On black holes as macroscopic quantum objects

TL;DR

This paper argues that black holes should be viewed as macroscopic quantum objects, revealing non-local quantum effects during formation and evolution, challenging classical and local assumptions about horizons and Hawking radiation.

Contribution

It introduces a non-local quantum interpretation of black hole formation and evolution, highlighting effects like shell pair creation at the horizon and entanglement patterns.

Findings

Black hole formation involves non-local shell pair creation.

Outgoing Hawking particles become entangled with the geometry, not their partners.

Particles take finite time to tunnel, avoiding infinite redshift.

Abstract

The relative flow of the Schwarzschild vs. the proper time during the classical evolution of a collapsing shell in the Schwarzschild coordinates practically forces us to interpret black hole formation as a highly non-local quantum process in which a shell/anti-shell pair is created within the incipient horizon, thus canceling out the original collapsing shell exactly at the horizon. By studying quantum fields in the black hole background, we reveal similar non-local effects. Among other things, the outgoing member of the Hawking pair very quickly becomes entangled with the black hole geometry (and not its partner), which is in contrast with the usual assumption that the Hawking pair is maximally entangled according to the local geometry near the horizon. Also, an infalling wave affects the black hole geometry even before it crosses the horizon. Finally, we find that a particle takes a finite amount of time to tunnel in and out of the black hole horizon, and thus avoids infinite blue and redshift in processes happening exactly at the horizon. These findings strongly support the picture of a black hole as a macroscopic quantum object.