Uploaded December 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Joe Polchinski
KITP & UCSB
Dec 4, 2014
UCSB’s Joseph Polchinski shares his ideas about how to reconcile quantum mechanics and the theory of general relativity.
According to Polchinski, two conflicts exist with regard to black holes: the entropy puzzle and the information paradox. “Quantum mechanics says empty space is not so empty,” he noted in discussing the information paradox. “Particle-anti particle pairs are popping in and out of existence. One of the pair falls below the event horizon and is lost and the other gets out. Yet quantum mechanics does not allow information to be destroyed. However, for the information to escape, it would have to travel faster than the speed of light.”
Slides are here: http://online.kitp.ucsb.edu/online/special/polchinski/pdf/Polchinski_Faculty_UCSB.pdf
Video can also be found here: http://online.kitp.ucsb.edu
Joe Polchinski
KITP & UCSB
Dec 4, 2014
UCSB’s Joseph Polchinski shares his ideas about how to reconcile quantum mechanics and the theory of general relativity.
According to Polchinski, two conflicts exist with regard to black holes: the entropy puzzle and the information paradox. “Quantum mechanics says empty space is not so empty,” he noted in discussing the information paradox. “Particle-anti particle pairs are popping in and out of existence. One of the pair falls below the event horizon and is lost and the other gets out. Yet quantum mechanics does not allow information to be destroyed. However, for the information to escape, it would have to travel faster than the speed of light.”
Slides are here: http://online.kitp.ucsb.edu/online/special/polchinski/pdf/Polchinski_Faculty_UCSB.pdf
Video can also be found here: http://online.kitp.ucsb.edu
