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arXiv · 0912.1938

The Spacetime View of the Information Paradox

H. Nikolic
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Abstract

In semiclassical gravity, the final state of black-hole evaporation cannot be described by a pure state. Nevertheless, we point out that the system can be described by a generalized pure state, which is not defined on a 3-dimensional hypersurface but on the 4-dimensional spacetime describing the whole Universe at all times. Unlike the conventional quantum state, such a generalized state treats time on an equal footing with space, which makes it well suited for systems that are both quantum and relativistic. In particular, such a generalized state contains a novel type of information encoded in the correlations between future and past, which avoids the black-hole information paradox.

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H. Nikolic. 2009-12-10. The Spacetime View of the Information Paradox. https://arxiv.org/abs/0912.1938

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