What is the problem? Einstein’s general theory of relativity says that information about what goes into a black hole cannot come out of that black hole.
It has been proven that the hawk’s radiation does not contain information about the pair particle that disappeared into the black hole, and if the hawk’s radiation does not provide information, then all the information that disappears in the black hole remains there forever.
However, this is a problem for quantum field theory, where a fundamental law states that any process can be mathematically reversed, which means that information cannot be irretrievably lost.
Information may be terribly mixed up or remain locked in a black hole forever, as long as that black hole continues to exist, the information still exists somewhere in the universe.
But since the hawk’s radiation does not eject any information from the black hole and causes the black hole to disappear completely, with all the information it contains, this is a violation of the law of preservation of information. So there will be something wrong with general relativity or quantum mechanics.
There have been numerous attempts to reconcile hawk radiation with the information retention law, but so far none have been entirely satisfactory (and some attempts have even presented additional problems).
But now four physicists say they have found a solution to the problem.
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