Pure states don't wear black

TL;DR

The paper argues that pure quantum states cannot form black holes, suggesting that black hole formation and evaporation should be understood through quantum decoherence rather than pure states.

Contribution

It introduces the idea that pure states do not lead to black hole formation, offering a new perspective on the information loss paradox in quantum gravity.

Findings

Pure states do not form black holes.

Black hole formation involves quantum decoherence.

Implications for the information loss paradox.

Abstract

Recently, string theory has provided some remarkable new insights into the microphysics of black holes. I argue that a simple and important lesson is also provided with regards to the information loss paradox, namely, pure quantum states do not form black holes! Thus it seems black hole formation, as well as evaporation, must be understood within the framework of quantum decoherence.