Unitarity and the information problem in an explicit model of black hole evaporation

Abstract

We consider the black hole information problem in an explicitly defined spacetime modeling black hole evaporation. Using this context we review basic aspects of the problem, with a particular effort to be unambiguous about subtle topics, for instance precisely what is meant by entropy in various circumstances. We then focus on questions of unitarity, and argue that commonly invoked semiclassical statements of long term, evaporation time, and Page time ‘unitarity’ may all be violated even if physics is fundamentally unitary. This suggests that there is no horizon firewall. We discuss how the picture is modified for regular (nonsingular) evaporation models. We also compare our conclusions to recent holographic studies, and argue that they are mutually compatible.