PIRSA:20050061

The Python's Lunch: geometric obstructions to decoding Hawking radiation

Gharibyan, H. (2020). The Python's Lunch: geometric obstructions to decoding Hawking radiation. Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/20050061

Gharibyan, Hrant. The Python's Lunch: geometric obstructions to decoding Hawking radiation. Perimeter Institute, May. 21, 2020, https://pirsa.org/20050061 

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:20050061,
            doi = {10.48660/20050061},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/20050061},
            author = {Gharibyan, Hrant},
            keywords = {Quantum Gravity},
            language = {en},
            title = {The Python{\textquoteright}s Lunch: geometric obstructions to decoding Hawking radiation},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2020},
            month = {may},
            note = {PIRSA:20050061 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }

Hrant Gharibyan

Stanford University

Talk number
PIRSA:20050061
Talk Type
Subject
Abstract

Harlow and Hayden [arXiv:1301.4504] argued that distilling information out of Hawking radiation is computationally hard despite the fact that the quantum state of the black hole and its radiation is relatively un-complex. I will trace this computational difficulty to a geometric obstruction in the Einstein-Rosen bridge connecting the black hole and its radiation. Inspired by tensor network models, I will present a conjecture that relates the computational hardness of distilling information to geometric features of the wormhole - specifically to the exponential of the difference in generalized entropies between the two non-minimal quantum extremal surfaces that constitute the obstruction. Due to its shape, this obstruction was dubbed "Python's Lunch", in analogy to the reptile's postprandial bulge.