Back to the AntiGravity Propulsion Intro Page
Puzzle #8
#8. What is the resolution of the black hole information paradox?
According to quantum theory, information - whether it describes the velocity of a particle or the precise manner in which ink marks or pixels are arranged on a document - cannot disappear from the Universe. : But the Physicists, Kip Thorne, John Preskill and Stephen Hawking have a standing bet: What would happen if you dropped a copy of the Encyclopaedia Britannica down a Black Hole? It does not matter whether there are other identical copies elsewhere in the Cosmos. As defined in physics, information is not the same as meaning, but simply refers to the binary digits, or some other code, used to precisely describe an object or pattern. So it seems that the information in those particular books would be swallowed up and gone forever. And that is supposed to be impossible.
Hawking and Thorne believe the information would indeed disappear and that quantum mechanics will just have to deal with it. Preskill speculates that the information doesn't really vanish: It may be displayed somehow on the surface of the Black Hole, as on a cosmic movie screen.
Back to the Physics Puzzles Index Page
Back to the AntiGravity Propulsion Intro Page
