Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:1412.7234 · Physical Science International Journal

The Computational Limit to Quantum Determinism and the Black Hole Information Loss Paradox

Arkady Bolotin

Published Jan 10, 2015• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The present paper scrutinizes the principle of quantum determinism, which maintains that the complete information about the initial quantum state of a physical system should determine the system's quantum state at any other time. As it shown in the paper, assuming the strong exponential time hypothesis, SETH, which conjectures that known algorithms for solving computational NP-complete problems (often brute-force algorithms) are optimal, the quantum deterministic principle cannot be used generally, i.e., for randomly selected physical systems, particularly macroscopic systems. In other words, even if the initial quantum state of an arbitrary system were precisely known, as long as SETH is true it might be impossible in the real world to predict the system's exact final quantum state. The paper suggests that the breakdown of quantum determinism in a process, in which a black hole forms and then completely evaporates, might actually be physical evidence supporting SETH.

DOI
10.9734/psij/2015/18414

Related papers

Computational solution to quantum foundational problems

Arkady Bolotin

This paper argues that the requirement of applicableness of quantum linearity to any physical level from molecules and atoms to the level of macroscopic extensional world, which leads to a main foundational problem in quantum theory referred to as the "measurement problem", actually has a computational character: It implies that there is a generic algorithm, which guarantees exact solutions to the Schrodinger equation for every physical system in a reasonable amount of time regardless of how many constituent microscopic particles it comprises. From the point of view of computational complexity theory, this requirement is equivalent to the assumption that the computational complexity classes P and NP are equal, which is widely believed to be very unlikely. As demonstrated in the paper, accepting the different computational assumption called the Exponential Time Hypothesis (that involves P!=NP) would justify the separation between a microscopic quantum system and a macroscopic apparatus (usually called the Heisenberg cut) since this hypothesis, if true, would imply that deterministic quantum and classical descriptions are impossible to overlap in order to obtain a rigorous derivation of complete properties of macroscopic objects from their microstates.

arXiv:1403.7686•Mar 30, 2014•0 citations

Out of the box approach to Black hole Information paradox

Kiran Adhikari

Suppose a black hole forms from a pure quantum state $\ketψ$. The black hole information loss paradox arises from semiclassical arguments suggesting that, even in a closed system, the process of black hole formation and evaporation evolves a pure state into a mixed state. Resolution to the paradox typically demands violation of quantum mechanics or relativity in domains where they should hold. Instead, I propose that in a complete theory of quantum gravity, any region $\mathcal{U}$ that could collapse into a black hole should already be described by a mixed state, thus bypassing the paradox entirely. To that end, I present a model in which the universe is in a quantum error-corrected state, such that any local black hole appears mixed and encodes no information locally.

arXiv:2504.10429•Apr 14, 2025•0 citations

Computational Solution to Quantum Foundational Problems

Arkady Bolotin

This paper argues that the requirement of applicableness of quantum linearity to any physical level from molecules and atoms to the level of macroscopic extensional world, which leads to a main foundational problem in quantum theory referred to as the "measurement problem", actually has a computational character: It implies that there is a generic algorithm, which guarantees exact solutions to the Schr ödinger equation for every physical system in a reasonable amount of time regardless of how many constituent microscopic particles it comprises.From the point of view of computational complexity theory, this requirement is equivalent to the assumption that the computational complexity classes P and NP are equal, which is widely believed to be very unlikely.As demonstrated in the paper, accepting the different computational assumption called the Exponential Time Hypothesis (that involves P =NP) would justify the separation between a microscopic quantum system and a macroscopic apparatus (usually called the Heisenberg cut) since this hypothesis, if true, would imply that deterministic quantum and classical descriptions are impossible to overlap in order to obtain a rigorous derivation of complete properties of macroscopic objects from their microstates.

Physical Science International Journal•Jan 10, 2014•2 citations

The 101 Phase State and the Black Hole Information Paradox

Melissa Blanchard, S. Sage

The black hole information paradox remains one of modern physics’ most persistent conceptual fractures. Hawking’s original formulation suggested that black hole evaporation yields thermal radiation, apparently severing the relation between the initial state and the final emitted state. Quantum theory, however, requires unitary evolution and therefore forbids true information destruction. This paper proposes that the paradox may be more fruitfully interpreted not as a flat binary contradiction between preservation and loss, but as an unresolved boundary-state problem. To clarify that claim, the paper introduces the 101 Phase State as a symbolic formalism for intermediate informational resolution. In this model, +1 denotes preserved or recoverable informational order, -1 denotes apparent loss or thermal unreadability, and 0 denotes the boundary interface at which observational contradiction becomes structurally legible but not yet fully resolved.

•Aug 9, 2026•0 citations

The complexity of learning (pseudo)random dynamics of black holes and other chaotic systems

Lisa Yang, Netta Engelhardt

A bstract It has been recently proposed that the naive semiclassical prediction of non-unitary black hole evaporation can be understood in the fundamental description of the black hole as a consequence of ignorance of high-complexity information. Validity of this conjecture implies that any algorithm which is polynomially bounded in computational complexity cannot accurately reconstruct the black hole dynamics. In this work, we prove that such bounded quantum algorithms cannot accurately predict (pseudo)random unitary dynamics, even if they are given access to an arbitrary set of polynomially complex observables under this time evolution; this shows that “learning” a (pseudo)random unitary is computationally hard. We use the common simplification of modeling black holes and more generally chaotic systems via (pseudo)random dynamics. The quantum algorithms that we consider are completely general, and their attempted guess for the time evolution of black holes is likewise unconstrained: it need not be a linear operator, and may be as general as an arbitrary (e.g. decohering) quantum channel.

arXiv:2302.11013•Journal of High Energy Physics•Mar 20, 2025•3 citations

Conditional entanglement transfer via black holes: restoring predictability

Ali Akil, Oscar Dahlsten, Leonardo Modesto

Hawking's black hole evaporation process suggests that we may need to choose between quantum unitarity and other basic physical principles such as no-signaling, entanglement monogamy, and the equivalence principle. We here show that the Hawking's quantum model for the black hole evaporation is consistent with the above fundamental principles. Our analysis does not involve exotic new physics, but rather uses standard quantum theory, general relativity, and the Einstein–Hilbert action including matter. We explicitly show that the whole state consisting of matter and radiation (in a joint superposition of different energy states) is pure at any stage of the evaporation process, including the particular case of 0 mass. Moreover, after full evaporation the state for radiation at infinity is pure and in one-to-one correspondence with the initial state forming the black hole. Thus there is no information loss upon full evaporation according to the quantum information theory. The original entanglement of the black hole matter (if any) gets transferred to the outgoing particles via a process similar to entanglement swapping, without violation of causality (as proved explicitly). On the other hand, if the initial state is a tensor product state, the entanglement of Hawking particles, present in the intermediate phase, is broken when the black hole evaporates completely. Therefore, the final state (entangled or tensor product depending on the nature of initial state) after the full black hole evaporation is pure without loss of information.

New Journal of Physics•Jul 26, 2021•2 citations
The present paper scrutinizes the principle of quantum determinism, which maintains that the complete information about the initial quantum state of a physical system should determine the system's quantum state at any other time. As it shown in the paper, assuming the strong exponential time hypothesis, SETH, which conjectures that known algorithms for solving computational NP-complete problems (often brute-force algorithms) are optimal, the quantum deterministic principle cannot be used generally, i.e., for randomly selected physical systems, particularly macroscopic systems. In other words, even if the initial quantum state of an arbitrary system were precisely known, as long as SETH is true it might be impossible in the real world to predict the system's exact final quantum state. The paper suggests that the breakdown of quantum determinism in a process, in which a black hole forms and then completely evaporates, might actually be physical evidence supporting SETH.
This paper argues that the requirement of applicableness of quantum linearity to any physical level from molecules and atoms to the level of macroscopic extensional world, which leads to a main foundational problem in quantum theory referred to as the "measurement problem", actually has a computational character: It implies that there is a generic algorithm, which guarantees exact solutions to the Schrodinger equation for every physical system in a reasonable amount of time regardless of how many constituent microscopic particles it comprises. From the point of view of computational complexity theory, this requirement is equivalent to the assumption that the computational complexity classes P and NP are equal, which is widely believed to be very unlikely. As demonstrated in the paper, accepting the different computational assumption called the Exponential Time Hypothesis (that involves P!=NP) would justify the separation between a microscopic quantum system and a macroscopic apparatus (usually called the Heisenberg cut) since this hypothesis, if true, would imply that deterministic quantum and classical descriptions are impossible to overlap in order to obtain a rigorous derivation of complete properties of macroscopic objects from their microstates.
Suppose a black hole forms from a pure quantum state ∣ψ⟩\ketψ∣ψ⟩. The black hole information loss paradox arises from semiclassical arguments suggesting that, even in a closed system, the process of black hole formation and evaporation evolves a pure state into a mixed state. Resolution to the paradox typically demands violation of quantum mechanics or relativity in domains where they should hold. Instead, I propose that in a complete theory of quantum gravity, any region U\mathcal{U}U that could collapse into a black hole should already be described by a mixed state, thus bypassing the paradox entirely. To that end, I present a model in which the universe is in a quantum error-corrected state, such that any local black hole appears mixed and encodes no information locally.
This paper argues that the requirement of applicableness of quantum linearity to any physical level from molecules and atoms to the level of macroscopic extensional world, which leads to a main foundational problem in quantum theory referred to as the "measurement problem", actually has a computational character: It implies that there is a generic algorithm, which guarantees exact solutions to the Schr ödinger equation for every physical system in a reasonable amount of time regardless of how many constituent microscopic particles it comprises.From the point of view of computational complexity theory, this requirement is equivalent to the assumption that the computational complexity classes P and NP are equal, which is widely believed to be very unlikely.As demonstrated in the paper, accepting the different computational assumption called the Exponential Time Hypothesis (that involves P =NP) would justify the separation between a microscopic quantum system and a macroscopic apparatus (usually called the Heisenberg cut) since this hypothesis, if true, would imply that deterministic quantum and classical descriptions are impossible to overlap in order to obtain a rigorous derivation of complete properties of macroscopic objects from their microstates.
The black hole information paradox remains one of modern physics’ most persistent conceptual fractures. Hawking’s original formulation suggested that black hole evaporation yields thermal radiation, apparently severing the relation between the initial state and the final emitted state. Quantum theory, however, requires unitary evolution and therefore forbids true information destruction. This paper proposes that the paradox may be more fruitfully interpreted not as a flat binary contradiction between preservation and loss, but as an unresolved boundary-state problem. To clarify that claim, the paper introduces the 101 Phase State as a symbolic formalism for intermediate informational resolution. In this model, +1 denotes preserved or recoverable informational order, -1 denotes apparent loss or thermal unreadability, and 0 denotes the boundary interface at which observational contradiction becomes structurally legible but not yet fully resolved.
A bstract It has been recently proposed that the naive semiclassical prediction of non-unitary black hole evaporation can be understood in the fundamental description of the black hole as a consequence of ignorance of high-complexity information. Validity of this conjecture implies that any algorithm which is polynomially bounded in computational complexity cannot accurately reconstruct the black hole dynamics. In this work, we prove that such bounded quantum algorithms cannot accurately predict (pseudo)random unitary dynamics, even if they are given access to an arbitrary set of polynomially complex observables under this time evolution; this shows that “learning” a (pseudo)random unitary is computationally hard. We use the common simplification of modeling black holes and more generally chaotic systems via (pseudo)random dynamics. The quantum algorithms that we consider are completely general, and their attempted guess for the time evolution of black holes is likewise unconstrained: it need not be a linear operator, and may be as general as an arbitrary (e.g. decohering) quantum channel.
Hawking's black hole evaporation process suggests that we may need to choose between quantum unitarity and other basic physical principles such as no-signaling, entanglement monogamy, and the equivalence principle. We here show that the Hawking's quantum model for the black hole evaporation is consistent with the above fundamental principles. Our analysis does not involve exotic new physics, but rather uses standard quantum theory, general relativity, and the Einstein–Hilbert action including matter. We explicitly show that the whole state consisting of matter and radiation (in a joint superposition of different energy states) is pure at any stage of the evaporation process, including the particular case of 0 mass. Moreover, after full evaporation the state for radiation at infinity is pure and in one-to-one correspondence with the initial state forming the black hole. Thus there is no information loss upon full evaporation according to the quantum information theory. The original entanglement of the black hole matter (if any) gets transferred to the outgoing particles via a process similar to entanglement swapping, without violation of causality (as proved explicitly). On the other hand, if the initial state is a tensor product state, the entanglement of Hawking particles, present in the intermediate phase, is broken when the black hole evaporates completely. Therefore, the final state (entangled or tensor product depending on the nature of initial state) after the full black hole evaporation is pure without loss of information.