A hidden twist in the black hole information paradox

February 27, 2007

Professor Sam Braunstein, of the University of York's Department of Computer Science, and Dr Arun Pati, of the Institute of Physics, Sainik School, Bhubaneswar, India, have established that quantum information cannot be 'hidden' in conventional ways, or in Braunstein's words, "quantum information can run but it can't hide."

This result gives a surprising new twist to one of the great mysteries about black holes.

Conventional (classical) information can vanish in two ways, either by moving to another place (e.g. across the internet), or by "hiding", such as in a coded message. The famous Vernam cipher devised in 1917 or its relative the one-time pad cryptographic code are examples of such classical information hiding: the information resides neither in the encoded message nor in the secret key pad used to decipher it – but in correlations between the two.

For decades, physicists believed that both these mechanisms were applicable to quantum information as well, but Professor Braunstein and Dr Pati have demonstrated that if quantum information disappears from one place, it must have moved somewhere else.

In a paper published in the latest edition of Physical Review Letters, Braunstein and Pati derive their 'no-hiding theorem' and use it to study black holes which, in Einstein's Theory of Relativity, are characterized as swallowing up anything that comes too close.

In the mid 1970s, Stephen Hawking's showed that black holes eventually evaporate away in a steady stream of featureless radiation containing no information. But if a black hole has completely evaporated, where has the information about it gone? This long standing question is known as the black hole information paradox.

Now, Professor Braunstein and Dr Pati have ruled out the possibility that information might escape from the black hole but be somehow hidden in correlations between the Hawking radiation and the black hole's internal state. Braunstein and Pati's result demonstrates that the black hole information paradox is even more severe than previously believed.

Dr Pati said: "Our result shows that either quantum mechanics or Hawking's analysis must break down, but it does not choose between these two possibilities."

Professor Braunstein said: "The no-hiding theorem provides new insight into the different laws governing classical and quantum information. It shows that there's got to be new physics out there."

"Quantum information cannot be completely hidden in correlations: Implications for the black-hole information paradox" appears in the latest Physical Review Letters.

Source: University of York

4.4 /5 (62 votes)  

Rank 4.4 /5 (62 votes)
Tags

Related Stories
Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • What is the precise definition of a year?
    created1 hour ago
  • Universe as a cellular automaton
    created2 hours ago
  • Question about Newton's laws
    created3 hours ago
  • Gravity Question (I think) with mass and speed
    created5 hours ago
  • Can you manipulate any formula in Physics?
    created6 hours ago
  • I have a quiz -_-
    created8 hours ago
  • More from Physics Forums - General Physics

More news stories

Explained: Sigma

It's a question that arises with virtually every major new finding in science or medicine: What makes a result reliable enough to be taken seriously? The answer has to do with statistical significance -- but ...

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 09, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (19) | comments 65

Quantum physicist explains $100K offer for proof scaled-up quantum computing is impossible

(PhysOrg.com) -- MIT researcher Scott Aaronson has certainly riled the physics community with his offer this past Friday, of $100,000 to anyone who can prove that scaled-up quantum computing is impossible. ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (13) | comments 34 | with audio podcast weblog

Diamond light, brighter than the sun

It’s the size of five football pitches and generates light 10 billion times brighter than the sun. As the Diamond Light Source celebrates its tenth anniversary this year, Penny Bailey visits one of the ...

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 15 | with audio podcast

Physicists 'record' magnetic breakthrough

An international team of scientists has demonstrated a revolutionary new way of magnetic recording which will allow information to be processed hundreds of times faster than by current hard drive technology.

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 07, 2012 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (41) | comments 14 | with audio podcast

Hints of the Higgs - papers are submitted

Back in December 2011, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN presented some exciting results that provided tantalising hints of the Higgs boson.

Physics / General Physics

created Feb 08, 2012 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 10


Walney offshore wind farm is world's biggest (for now)

(PhysOrg.com) -- The Walney wind farm on the Irish Sea--characterized by high tides, waves and windy weather--officially opened this week. The farm is treated in the press as a very big deal as the Walney ...

GPS court ruling leaves US phone tracking unclear

A US Supreme Court decision requiring a warrant to place a GPS device on the car of a criminal suspect leaves unresolved the bigger issue of police tracking using mobile phones, legal experts say.

Europeans protest controversial Internet pact

Tens of thousands of people marched in protests in more than a dozen European cities Saturday against a controversial anti-online piracy pact that critics say could curtail Internet freedom.

Europe stakes billion-dollar bet on new rocket

A pencil-slim rocket is scheduled to lift into space from South America on Monday, carrying a billion-dollar bet that Europe can grab a juicy slice of the market to place satellites in low orbit.

Study finds that anti-diabetic medication can prevent the long-term effects of maternal obesity

In a study to be presented today at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting, in Dallas, Texas, researchers will report findings that show that short therapy with the anti-diabetic medication ...

Netflix settlement trims 14 pct off 4Q earnings

(AP) -- Netflix pressed the rewind button on its fourth-quarter earnings after settling allegations that the video subscription service violated a consumer-privacy law.