Quantum gravity and the information loss problem

Abstract

We review the standard picture of black hole evaporation and the ensuing Information Loss Problem. Next, we describe an alternative view of the evaporation process due to Ashtekar and Bojowald (AB) which rests on the assumption of singularity resolution in quantum gravity. To endow the AB proposal with precision as well as to test it in a quantitative setting, we consider the Callen-Giddings-Harvey-Strominger (CGHS) toy model of 2-dimensional black holes. We propose a quantum framework in which to understand this model and show that the proposed framework implies that the classical spacetime manifold acquires a quantum extension, as in the AB paradigm. We show that asymptotic analysis coupled with the quantum framework suggests a unitary picture of black hole evaporation consistent with early (on the extended null infinity) time Hawking radiation.