Stephen Hawking’s Black Hole Radiation Paradox Might Be Solved—If Black Holes Aren’t What They Seem
New research suggests that black holes might not be the featureless entities that Einstein’s general theory of relativity predicts. Instead, they could be “frozen stars,” strange quantum objects that lack both a singularity and an event horizon, potentially offering a solution to some of the biggest mysteries in black hole physics.
A study published in *Physical Review D* proposes that these “frozen stars” share some characteristics with black holes but differ in crucial ways. If real, they could resolve the famous Hawking radiation paradox, which arises from Stephen Hawking’s 1970s discovery. Hawking found that black holes emit radiation at their event horizons, yet this radiation seemingly carries no information about the matter that originally formed the black hole. This contradicts a fundamental law of quantum mechanics: that information cannot be destroyed.
Frozen Stars: A Solution to Black Hole Paradoxes?
Unlike traditional black holes, frozen stars are believed to lack a singularity—a point of infinite density—which resolves another major issue in physics: infinities are generally seen as a sign of a theory’s limitations. Ramy Brustein, lead author of the study and a professor at Ben-Gurion University, explained that frozen stars are ultracompact astrophysical objects that mimic many of a black hole’s observable properties but are free from singularities and event horizons. Their existence would require a significant revision to Einstein’s theory of general relativity.
The frozen star model also helps address the information loss paradox. Unlike the standard black hole model, frozen stars do not collapse into infinitely dense points. Instead, they are made of ultra-rigid matter, inspired by string theory, and have a size just slightly larger than a typical black hole’s event horizon. This difference prevents the formation of a true event horizon and may preserve information that would otherwise be lost.
Testing the Frozen Star Hypothesis
While the frozen star model is intriguing, it still needs to be tested. Frozen stars are expected to have internal structures dictated by quantum gravity, which sets them apart from traditional black holes. Observing gravitational waves, which are ripples in space-time generated by black hole mergers, may help scientists distinguish between frozen stars and black holes.
As Brustein and his co-authors A.J.M. Medved and Tamar Simhon continue their research, the discovery of frozen stars would revolutionize our understanding of the cosmos and black hole physics.
