No information or horizon paradoxes for Th. Smiths

TL;DR

This paper argues that common paradoxes in cosmology and black hole physics are resolved by standard statistical mechanics principles, revealing gaps in our understanding of quantum gravity.

Contribution

It demonstrates that typical paradoxes like the horizon problem and information paradox are addressed by existing statistical mechanics concepts, challenging their perceived unresolved nature.

Findings

Paradoxes are explained by thermal probability principles.

Standard statistical mechanics can resolve horizon and information paradoxes.

Gaps in quantum gravitational understanding are highlighted.

Abstract

'Th'e 'S'tatistical 'm'echanician 'i'n 'th'e 's'treet (our Th. Smiths) must be surprised upon hearing popular versions of some of today's most discussed paradoxes in astronomy and cosmology. In fact, rather standard reminders of the meaning of thermal probabilities in statistical mechanics appear to answer the horizon problem (one of the major motivations for inflation theory) and the information paradox (related to black hole physics), at least as they are usually presented. Still the paradoxes point to interesting gaps in our statistical understanding of (quantum) gravitational effects.