In the classical theory black holes can only absorb and not emit particles. However it is shown that quantum mechanical effects cause black holes to create and emit particles as if they were hot bodies with temperature$\frac{{h\kappa }}{{2\pi k}} \approx 10^{ - 6} \left( {\frac{{M_ \odot }}{M}} \right){}^ \circ K$ where κ is the surface gravity of the black hole. This thermal emission leads to a slow decrease in the mass of the black hole and to its eventual disappearance: any primordial black hole of mass less than about 1015 g would have evaporated by now. Although these quantum effects violate the classical law that the area of the event horizon of a black hole cannot decrease, there remains a Generalized Second Law:S+1/4A never decreases whereS is the entropy of matter outside black holes andA is the sum of the surface areas of the event horizons. This shows that gravitational collapse converts the baryons and leptons in the collapsing body into entropy. It is tempting to speculate that this might be the reason why the Universe contains so much entropy per baryon.

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Particle Creation by Black Holes

Quantum cryptography could well be the first application of quantum mechanics at the individual quanta level. The very fast progress in both theory and experiments over the recent years are reviewed, with emphasis on open questions and technological issues.

Quantum Cryptography

There are a number of similarities between black-hole physics and thermodynamics. Most striking is the similarity in the behaviors of black-hole area and of entropy: Both quantities tend to increase irreversibly. In this paper we make this similarity the basis of a thermodynamic approach to black-hole physics. After a brief review of the elements of the theory of information, we discuss black-hole physics from the point of view of information theory. We show that it is natural to introduce the concept of black-hole entropy as the measure of information about a black-hole interior which is inaccessible to an exterior observer. Considerations of simplicity and consistency, and dimensional arguments indicate that the black-hole entropy is equal to the ratio of the black-hole area to the square of the Planck length times a dimensionless constant of order unity. A different approach making use of the specific properties of Kerr black holes and of concepts from information theory leads to the same conclusion, and suggests a definite value for the constant. The physical content of the concept of black-hole entropy derives from the following generalized version of the second law: When common entropy goes down a black hole, the common entropy in the black-hole exterior plus the black-hole entropy never decreases. The validity of this version of the second law is supported by an argument from information theory as well as by several examples.

Black holes and entropy

were proposed in the early 1980’s [Benioff80] and shown to be at least as powerful as classical computers an important but not surprising result, since classical computers, at the deepest level, ultimately follow the laws of quantum mechanics. The description of quantum mechanical computers was formalized in the late 80’s and early 90’s [Deutsch85][BB92] [BV93] [Yao93] and they were shown to be more powerful than classical computers on various specialized problems. In early 1994, [Shor94] demonstrated that a quantum mechanical computer could efficiently solve a well-known problem for which there was no known efficient algorithm using classical computers. This is the problem of integer factorization, i.e. testing whether or not a given integer, N, is prime, in a time which is a finite power of o (logN) . ----------------------------------------------

A fast quantum mechanical algorithm for database search

The perceptual recognition of objects is conceptualized to be a process in which the image of the input is segmented at regions of deep concavity into an arrangement of simple geometric components, such as blocks, cylinders, wedges, and cones. The fundamental assumption of the proposed theory, recognition-by-components (RBC), is that a modest set of generalized-cone components, called geons (N £ 36), can be derived from contrasts of five readily detectable properties of edges in a two-dimensiona l image: curvature, collinearity, symmetry, parallelism, and cotermination. The detection of these properties is generally invariant over viewing position an$ image quality and consequently allows robust object perception when the image is projected from a novel viewpoint or is degraded. RBC thus provides a principled account of the heretofore undecided relation between the classic principles of perceptual organization and pattern recognition: The constraints toward regularization (Pragnanz) characterize not the complete object but the object's components. Representational power derives from an allowance of free combinations of the geons. A Principle of Componential Recovery can account for the major phenomena of object recognition: If an arrangement of two or three geons can be recovered from the input, objects can be quickly recognized even when they are occluded, novel, rotated in depth, or extensively degraded. The results from experiments on the perception of briefly presented pictures by human observers provide empirical support for the theory. Any single object can project an infinity of image configurations to the retina. The orientation of the object to the viewer can vary continuously, each giving rise to a different two-dimensional projection. The object can be occluded by other objects or texture fields, as when viewed behind foliage. The object need not be presented as a full-colored textured image but instead can be a simplified line drawing. Moreover, the object can even be missing some of its parts or be a novel exemplar of its particular category. But it is only with rare exceptions that an image fails to be rapidly and readily classified, either as an instance of a familiar object category or as an instance that cannot be so classified (itself a form of classification).

/pdf/recognition-by-components-a-theory-of-human-image-2d038hmxno.pdf

Recognition-by-Components: A Theory of Human Image Understanding.

In an earlier paper (4) it was shown how to define for any matrix a unique generalization of the inverse of a non-singular matrix. The purpose of the present note is to give a further application which has relevance to the statistical problem of finding ‘best’ approximate solutions of inconsistent systems of equations by the method of least squares. Some suggestions for computing this generalized inverse are also given.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0305004100030929

On best approximate solutions of linear matrix equations

It is shown that, in space-times which are asymptotically flat, there are reasonable physical restrictionsthat allow one to impose coordinate conditions (in addition to the usual Bondi-type conditions)which restrict the allowed coordinate group to a subgroup of the Bondi-Metzner-Sachsgroup. This subgroup is isomorphic to the improper orthochronous inhomogeneous Lorentz group.

Note on the Bondi-Metzner-Sachs Group

A new approach to the quantization of general relativity is suggested in which a state consisting of just one graviton can be described, but in a way which involves both the curvature and nonlinearities of Einstein's theory. It is felt that this approach can be justified solely on its own merits, but it also receives striking encouragement from another direction: a surprising mathematical result enables one to construct the general such nonlinear gravitation state from a curved twistor space, the construction being given in terms of one arbitrary holomorphic function of three complex variables. In this way, the approach fits naturally into the general twistor program for the description of quantized fields.

Nonlinear gravitons and curved twistor theory

: A new technique for studying asymptotic questions in general relativity is presented. Points at infinity are introduced which constitute a null hypersurface boundary to space-time. This is studied from the point of view of its conformal structure and some new light is shed on the following questions: (1) asymptotic flatness, (2) gravitational radiation fields, (3) peeling off property of the Riemann tensor, (4) total energy-momentum with integral conservation laws, (5) characteristic initial value problem and (6) Bondi-Metzner-Sachs asymptotic symmetry group. (Author)

Roger Penrose

Papers

On best approximate solutions of linear matrix equations

Note on the Bondi-Metzner-Sachs Group

Nonlinear gravitons and curved twistor theory

Asymptotic properties of fields and space-times

Singularities and time-asymmetry.