Quantum Mechanics, Common Sense and the Black Hole Information Paradox

TL;DR

This paper examines various resolutions to the black hole information paradox using quantum mechanics and information theory, concluding that plausible solutions involve non-unitary evolution or infinite remnants.

Contribution

It provides an analysis of existing paradox resolutions through quantum information concepts, highlighting the plausibility of non-unitary processes or remnants.

Findings

Non-unitary evolution allows information leakage during black-hole evaporation.

Infinite meta-stable remnants could store the lost information.

Standard quantum mechanics may need modification to resolve the paradox.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyse, in the light of information theory and with the arsenal of (elementary) quantum mechanics (EPR correlations, copying machines, teleportation, mixing produced in sub-systems owing to a trace operation, etc.) the scenarios available on the market to resolve the so-called black-hole information paradox. We shall conclude that the only plausible ones are those where either the unitary evolution of quantum mechanics is given up, in which information leaks continuously in the course of black-hole evaporation through non-local processes, or those in which the world is polluted by an infinite number of meta-stable remnants.