Muthukrishnan, Siddharth (2022) Unpacking Black Hole Complementarity. [Preprint]

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Abstract

``Black hole complementarity'' is a label attached to an influential set of ideas that have emerged in response to the black hole information paradoxes. However, many different claims come under that label in the literature, and it can often be confusing what an appeal to ``black hole complementarity'' is meant to do. Unpacking this literature, I argue that black hole complementarity is about the consistency of quantum characterizations of an evaporating black hole. To bring this into focus, I delineate two consistency claims—i.e., two principles of black hole complementarity: operational complementarity and descriptive complementarity. These two principles are more or less attractive depending on one's background philosophy of science. Instrumentalists will lean towards operational complementarity while scientific realists will lean towards descriptive complementarity. If one resists instrumentalism (as many do, for good reason), one has a prima facie reason to adopt the descriptive principle and reject the operational principle. However, a series of thought experiments in the physics literature on black hole complementarity gives us strong reasons to adopt the operational principle and reject the descriptive principle. This shows that if we can stomach instrumentalism, then operational complementarity may suffice to resolve the black hole information paradox.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Muthukrishnan, Siddharth siddharth@pitt.edu 0000-0002-3335-7810
Keywords:	black holes, information paradox, high-energy physics, realism-instrumentalism
Subjects:	General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Depositing User:	Dr. Siddharth Muthukrishnan
Date Deposited:	28 Oct 2022 17:30
Last Modified:	28 Oct 2022 17:30
Item ID:	21328
Subjects:	General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
Date:	22 October 2022
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/21328

Available Versions of this Item

• Unpacking Black Hole Complementarity. (deposited 31 Jul 2022 17:48)
  • Unpacking Black Hole Complementarity. (deposited 28 Oct 2022 17:30) [Currently Displayed]
    • Unpacking Black Hole Complementarity. (deposited 28 Sep 2023 14:21)

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