Tunneling between Multiple Histories as a Solution to the Information Loss Paradox

Journal Article · 14 December 2023 · Entropy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/e25121663 · OSTI ID:2327001

Chen, Pisin ^[1]; Sasaki, Misao ^[2]; Yeom, Dong-han ^[3]; Yoon, Junggi ^[4]

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1. National Taiwan University, Taipei (Taiwan); Stanford University, CA (United States). Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics & Cosmology; SLAC
2. National Taiwan University, Taipei (Taiwan); University of Tokyo (Japan). Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI); Kyoto University (Japan)
3. National Taiwan University, Taipei (Taiwan); Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)
4. Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, Pohang (Kore, Republic of); Pohang Univ. of Science and Technology (POSTECH) (Korea, Republic of); Korea Institute for Advanced Study, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

The information loss paradox associated with black hole Hawking evaporation is an unresolved problem in modern theoretical physics. In a recent brief essay, we revisited the evolution of the black hole entanglement entropy via the Euclidean path integral (EPI) of the quantum state and allow for the branching of semi-classical histories along the Lorentzian evolution. We posited that there exist at least two histories that contribute to EPI, where one is an information-losing history, while the other is an information-preserving one. At early times, the former dominates EPI, while at the late times, the latter becomes dominant. By doing so, we recovered the essence of the Page curve, and thus, the unitarity, albeit with the turning point, i.e., the Page time, much shifted toward the late time. In this full-length paper, we fill in the details of our arguments and calculations to strengthen our notion. One implication of this modified Page curve is that the entropy bound may thus be violated. We comment on the similarity and difference between our approach and that of the replica wormholes and the islands’ conjectures.

• Research Organization: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC); Taiwan’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST); Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics (LeCosPA); Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS); National Research Foundation of Korea
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 2327001
• Journal Information: Entropy, Journal Name: Entropy Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 25; ISSN 1099-4300
• Publisher: MDPICopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English