Narrow Results

In this paper, we examine the implications of the ongoing black holes versus firewalls debate for the thermo-field dynamics of black holes by analyzing a conformal field theory (CFT) in a thermal state in the context of anti-de Sitter/CFT. We argue that the thermo-field doubled copy of the thermal CFT should be thought of not as a fictitious system, but as the image of the CFT in the heat bath. In case of strong coupling between the CFT and the heat bath, this image allows for free infall through the horizon and the system is described by a black hole. Conversely, firewalls are the appropriate dual description in case of weak interaction of the CFT with its heat bath.

It has been argued that when black holes are treated as quantum systems there are implications at the horizon and not just the singularity. Infalling observers will meet a firewall of high energy quanta. We argue that the question of whether an observer falling into a black hole experiences a smooth horizon or a firewall is identical to the question of whether Schrödinger's cat is either in a definite state, alive or dead, or in a superposition of the two. Since experience with real macro-systems indicate the former, the black hole state vector is seen to describe a set of decoherent alternatives each with a smooth horizon and the entanglement puzzle is thereby side stepped.

We propose a novel solution for the endpoint of gravitational collapse, in which spacetime ends (and is orbifolded) at a microscopic distance from black hole event horizons. This model is motivated by the emergence of singular event horizons in the gravitational aether theory, a semiclassical solution to the cosmological constant problem(s) and thus suggests a catastrophic breakdown of general relativity close to black hole event horizons. A similar picture emerges in fuzzball models of black holes in string theory, as well as the recent firewall proposal to resolve the information paradox. We then demonstrate that positing a surface fluid in thermal equilibrium with Hawking radiation, with vanishing energy density (but nonvanishing pressure) at the new boundary of spacetime, which is required by Israel junction conditions, yields a thermodynamic entropy that is identical to the Bekenstein–Hawking area law, S_BH, for charged rotating black holes. To our knowledge, this is the first derivation of black hole entropy that only employs local thermodynamics. Furthermore, a model for the microscopic degrees of freedom of the surface fluid (which constitute the microstates of the black hole) is suggested, which has a finite, but Lorentz-violating, quantum field theory. Finally, we comment on the effects of physical boundary on Hawking radiation and show that relaxing the assumption of equilibrium with Hawking radiation sets S_BH as an upper limit for Black Hole entropy.

We have previously argued that fluctuations of the Hawking emission rate can cause a black hole event horizon to fluctuate inside the location of a putative firewall, rendering the firewall naked. This assumes that the firewall is located near where the horizon would be expected based on the past evolution of the spacetime. Here, we expand our previous results by defining two new estimates for where the firewall might be that have more smooth temporal behavior than our original estimate. Our results continue to contradict the usual assumption that the firewall should not be observable except by infalling observers. This casts doubt about the idea that firewalls are the ‘most conservative’ solution to the information loss paradox.

We have previously argued that fluctuations of the Hawking emission rate can cause a black hole event horizon to fluctuate inside the location of a putative firewall, rendering the firewall naked. This assumes that the firewall is located near where the horizon would be expected based on the past evolution of the spacetime. Here, we expand our previous results by defining two new estimates for where the firewall might be that have more smooth temporal behavior than our original estimate. Our results continue to contradict the usual assumption that the firewall should not be observable except by infalling observers. This casts doubt about the idea that firewalls are the ‘most conservative’ solution to the information loss paradox.

The information paradox results from the traditional picture of a black hole, where all the matter is pulled to the centeral position r = 0. The paradox is resolved in string theory by the fuzzball paradigm: microstates in string theory are fuzzballs with no horizon or singularity, and radiate from their surface just like normal bodies. One can then ask the question: what happens when an object falls onto the fuzzball surface? The conjecture of fuzzball complementarity shows how the dynamics of this surface can have a dual description where the object appears to approximately fall through empty space. The firewall argument attempts to rule out such a free infall description, but the argument starts with contradictory postulates: it assumes that information comes out of the hole, yet its postulates do not allow this unless we violate causality.