QED blue-sheet effects inside black holes

TL;DR

This paper investigates the effects of blue-shifted photons on objects falling into a Reissner-Nordstrom black hole, analyzing quantum electrodynamics effects and their implications for the nature of the Cauchy horizon.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of QED effects on infalling matter near the inner horizon, considering second-order effects and a Planck-scale cutoff.

Findings

Finite energy absorption for infalling observers.

Human-sized objects would likely be killed by the interaction.

Smaller objects might survive the blue-shift effects.

Abstract

The interaction of the unboundedly blue-shifted photons of the cosmic microwave background radiation with a physical object falling towards the inner horizon of a Reissner-Nordstrom black hole is analyzed. To evaluate this interaction we consider the QED effects up to the second order in the perturbation expansion. We then extrapolate the QED effects up to a cutoff, which we introduce at the Planckian level. (Our results are not sensitive to the cutoff energy.) We find that the energy absorbed by an infalling observer is finite, and for typical parameters would not lead to a catastrophic heating. However, this interaction would almost certainly be fatal for a human being, or other living organism of similar size. On the other hand, we find that smaller objects may survive the interaction. Our results do not provide support to the idea that the Cauchy horizon is to be regarded as the boundary of spacetime.