The page curve and baby universes
Abstract
Black hole thermodynamics suggests that in order to describe the physics of distant observers, one may model a black hole as a standard quantum system with a density of states set by the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy SBH. This idea has long been considered to be in strong tension with Hawking’s prediction that radiation from black holes is nearly thermal, and with low-energy gravity more generally. But the past two years have shown that low-energy gravity does offer a self-consistent description of black hole evaporation consistent with the above idea, and which in particular reproduces the famous Page curve. We provide a brief overview of this new paradigm, focusing on Lorentz-signature asymptotically-flat spacetimes and emphasizing operationally defined observables that probe the entropy of Hawking radiation.
This essay received an Honorable Mention in the 2021 Essay Competition of the Gravity Research Foundation.
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