So theorists have been busy trying to find ways to make the laws that tell space and time how to curve mesh with the laws that tell particles how to share their information.
This new solution applies quantum thinking to gravity in the form of theoretical particles called gravitons. These aren’t bona fide particles like electrons and quarks, as nobody has seen one in the flesh yet. They might not even exist at all.
That doesn’t mean we can’t figure out what they might look like if they did, or consider possible quantum states they might operate within. Through a series of logical steps from the way gravitons could potentially behave under certain energy conditions, the team demonstrates a reasonable model for how information inside a black hole can remain connected with surrounding space across its line-of-no-return – as slight peturbances of the black hole’s gravitational field (the hairs).
As a theory, it’s an interesting one based on a solid framework. But there’s a long way to go before we can stamp ‘solved’ on this paradox.
Broadly speaking, there are two ways science progresses. One is to see something odd, and try to account for it. The other is to guess at something odd, and then try to find it.
Having a theoretical map like this is invaluable on our journey towards a solution to one of physics most perplexing paradoxes.
This research was published in Physical Review Letters.
