Wager between Kip Thorne, Stephen Hawking, and John Preskill

In 1997, a significant intellectual wager took place among three of the most prominent physicists of the time: Kip Thorne, Stephen Hawking, and John Preskill. This bet revolved around the black hole information paradox, a fundamental issue at the intersection of quantum mechanics and general relativity. Thorne and Hawking posited that the principles of general relativity imply that black holes cannot radiate information. They argued that the mass-energy and information emitted as Hawking radiation must be 'new' and not derived from the information that fell into the black hole, suggesting a potential need to revise quantum mechanics to accommodate this view. This stance raised profound questions about the nature of information and its conservation in the universe. Conversely, John Preskill took a different position, asserting that quantum mechanics inherently suggests that the information emitted by a black hole is indeed related to the information that had previously entered it. This perspective implies that the traditional understanding of black holes as described by general relativity must be modified to reconcile with the principles of quantum mechanics. The implications of this debate extend beyond theoretical physics, challenging our understanding of the universe and the fundamental laws that govern it. The outcome of this bet not only highlights the ongoing tensions between different physical theories but also underscores the importance of information in the fabric of reality. #mooflife #mof #MomentOfLife #BlackHoleInformationParadox #HawkingRadiation #QuantumMechanics #GeneralRelativity #KipThorne