The

New Edge: Firewalls in Black Holes

Physics, 9th Grade, Concord High School IB

Nathan Suri

ABSTRACT
Since the development of the black hole information paradox, physicists have been
contemplating the contradiction of three tenets of black hole mathematics that
converge at the event horizon. Following Almheiri and Susskind, who proposed the
idea of a firewall, this project demonstrates that of the total gravitational energy of a
black hole, there is enough to be expended through an exothermic firewall just
below the event horizon. Using the Conservation of Energy Principle coupled with
the mathematical basis for Hawking radiation, the amount of energy in a black hole
firewall can be derived. Assuming that the black hole does not accrete any matter in
the process of its decay (Sagittarius A* and primordial black holes), the data showed
that in both types, supermassive and primordial, there was enough energy for a
firewall even counting Hawking radiation. By calculating the value of energy
contained within the firewall, change in temperature of an object crossing the
firewall can be calculated through the thermal energy formula based on the mass of
the black hole.

The New Edge: Firewalls in Black Holes

Nathan Suri
Physics, 9th Grade, Concord High School IB

I. Introduction

In 1975, the prominent English physicist, Stephen Hawking, published a
groundbreaking article that would forever change the face of astrophysics. Hawking
proposed that the formerly cosmological phenomena known as black holes were not
perfect black bodies. Black bodies are a class of objects that can absorb forms of
matter and not release them or their corresponding energy in the form of radiation.
Through his paper, Hawking theorized that black holes expend an amount of their
gravitational energy; eponymously Hawking radiation. Therefore, a black hole
would not be constant body and its death would be marked by the complete
conversion of its energy into Hawking radiation. Outside the edge of black holes,
many virtual pairs pop into existence but are quickly annihilated as particle-
antiparticle pairs. However, in some cases, one of the virtual particles interacts with
the black hole and falls in. The other particle in the pair then is carried away as
Hawking radiation.
With the development of quantum theory, a powerful paradox approached
the notion of black holes. The black hole information paradox occurs when the in
falling particle is entangled to the particle outside. The Law of the Monogamy of
Entanglement dictates that the more bonds between particles, the weaker and
tenuous the bonds are. Therefore, the Hawking radiation needs to be entangled to
the particle on the inside as it is linked through their creation as a virtual pair as
well as all previous Hawking radiation to conserve all information absorbed by the
black hole. The entanglements between the particles dictate that as the particle falls
into the black hole, it should it maintain its entanglement with no change. However,
the entanglement weakens across the event horizon as the outside particle strives to
maintain the conversation of information.
The black hole information paradox jeopardizes three main principles: the
theory of equivalence, the quantum field theory, and unitarity. The theory of
equivalence is a central tenet of the area of Einsteins theory of general relativity, in
which an object in free fall in space at the same acceleration due to gravity as on
Earth should perceive no difference. The no-drama idea can then be extrapolated
to show that when crossing the event horizon of a black hole, a person should not be
able to acknowledge his/her position relative to the event horizon. The in falling
particle should maintain its quantum entanglement with the other paired particle
across the event horizon with no change. Unitarity, otherwise known as the
conservation of information, states that information cannot be destroyed and can
always be retrievable. Therefore, the combined information of all matter absorbed
by the black hole must be contained within the Hawking radiation, making each
exiting particle quantum entangled to the ones that preceded it. In 2012, physicists,
Ahmed Almheiri and Leonard Susskind, published two separate papers both

explaining a possible resolution to the paradox as the quantum entanglements

decrease with quantity. Upon crossing the event horizon, an object will experience a
terminable amount of heat as the breaking of the quantum entanglement from the
particle on the inside to the exiting one creates an unimaginable heat barrier known
as a firewall. However, this idea sacrifices the concept of equivalence, as instead of
no-drama when crossing the event horizon, there will be complete termination
through heat transfer.

II. Hypotheses

1. If the gravitational energy contained inside an Schwarzschild event horizon
is greater than what is carried by Hawking radiation (subjective to black hole
size), then there is enough energy to expend in a firewall to maintain
information at the expense of equivalence.
2. Upon crossing the event horizon, an object will encounter terminative heat
created by the firewall. This heat will be derived from the energy expended
through H1.

III. Assumptions

1. The black holes in question exist inside the known universe and therefore
obey its laws of physics.
2. The black holes are of the Schwarzschild metric, nonrotating and electrically
neutral black body solutions to satisfy Einsteins field equations.
3. Over the course of a black holes lifetime, its mass derived from its singularity
will be converted wholly into Hawking radiation until its evaporation.

IV. Proving Hot Entrance for Sagittarius A*

Using the conservation of energy theorem, the amount of energy present in a
firewall must be equal to or less than the total gravitational energy of a black hole
minus the energy taken away by the Hawking radiation. Therefore, the value
calculated for the energy of the firewall will be the maximum amount able to be
expended in the black hole. Sagittarius A* is a prominent supermassive black hole
that resides at the center of our galaxy. In order to calculate the amount of energy
present in the Hawking radiation, one must first calculate the initial mass of the
black hole by integrating the value of the current mass over the assumed time value
of 13.8 billion years (the approximate age of the universe). By plugging in the
change in mass into Einsteins equation for mass-energy equivalence, one can find
the energy contained in the escaping Hawking radiation. Subtracting the energy of
the Hawking radiation from the total black hole energy within the event horizon,
one can find how much energy can be expended in a firewall.

Let
EF = energy at the firewall,
EH = energy due to Hawking radiation,
EF = energy of firewall, and
EA = energy associated with accretion, then

! = ! + ! !

(Eq. 1)

Mass of sun = 1.989 x 1030 kg

Mass of Sagittarius A* (M sgr)= 4 x 106 x Mass sun

Mass Sgr = 7.956 x 1036 kg

Gravitational Constant, G = 6.673E-11

! !

!"

!
Speed of light, c = 2.998 x 108 !

! ! !!"#
Schwarzschild Radius (Sagittarius A*) R sgr = ! !

R sgr = 1.181 x 1010 m

(Eq. 2)

Using Stefan-Boltzmann-Schwarzschild-Hawking law:

! !

Black hole radiation power P = !"#$% ! ! ! !!

(Eq. 3)

! !

Kev = !"#$% ! ! ! = 3.562 x 1032 W.kg2

(Eq. 4)

P is the rate of evaporation energy loss of the black hole:

!" !
P = !" = !!"!

(Eq. 5)

By Einsteins mass-energy formula, the total energy E of the black hole is related to
its mass M:

E = Mc2
(Eq. 6)

P =

!
!"

! = !!"!

(Eq. 7)

Defining M0 as the initial mass & Mc as the current mass of Sagittarius A* and
integrating over a time period of the universe existence (13.8 billion years):

!!
!" !!
!
= !

!
!!


Initial mass M0 can be calculated as:

! =

(!! +

(Eq. 8)

3!"
)
!
(Eq. 9)

! =

(7.95636)! +

3(3.5632)(13.89 365 24 3600)

2.99798!

! = 503.6108 + 5.1833 = ! ! + !


Term1 >>> Term2

! ! = 7.95636

Black hole energy within the event horizon of Sagittarius A*:

! =

!
2
1 1

2
= ! = !

! = 2 !

(Eq. 10)

(Eq. 11)

! = 2 7.95636 (2.9988)! = 1.4354

Energy lost due to Hawking radiation ! = ! ! ! as Mc M0

Rate of Sagittarius A* accretion ra = 4.0 * 10-6 * Masssun = 7.956 * 1024 kg/year

Accretion over 1.39 * 1010 years = Ma = 1.09 * 1035 kg

Accretion energy, EA = Ma * c2 = 9.87 * 1051 J

If EF is the energy at the firewall, then

! = ! + ! !

(Eq. 12)

! = ! + ! = 1.4354 + 9.8751 = 1.4454

as EH is negligible.


V. Proving Hot Entrance for a Primordial Black Hole


A primordial black hole is a theoretical class of black holes that would have
evaporated or will evaporate in the near future due to their initial mass at their
genesis, with an approximate age comparable to the age of the universe. The same
principles used in Section IV are applicable to such black holes.

For a primordial black hole (assuming that the black hole completely evaporates
over 13.8E9 years, current mass of black hole, Mc = 0



! =

! 3(3.5632)(1.3810 365 24 3600)

3!"
=

= 1.7311
!
2.99798!

Primordial black hole energy within the event horizon:

! = 2! ! = 2 1.7311 (2.9988)! = 3.1128

Energy lost due to Hawking radiation

! = ! ! ! = ! ! = 1.7311 2.9988 ! = 1.5528

VI. Calculating the Terminative Heat in a Firewall


Using the thermodynamic principle of specific heat capacity, the change in
temperature of an assumed object of investigation, 1000 kg of granite, was
calculated by assuming that the energy of the firewalls of primordial and
supermassive black holes (as calculated in Sections IV and V) was equal to the heat
transfer in Joules.

Assuming a granite object of mass M=1000 kg approaching the Sagittarius A* black
hole

!
Specific heat capacity of granite C = 790 !" !

=
(Eq. 13)

!
1.4354
=
=
= 1.81048

790 1000

~
Assuming a 1000 kg granite object approaching the primordial black hole

!
Specific heat capacity of granite C = 790 !" !

! !
3.1128 1.5528
=
=
= 3.9422

790 1000

VII. Conclusions

In conclusion, the mathematical analysis proves the first hypothesis that
there is enough energy to maintain an exothermic firewall on the black holes
surface. While it is difficult to specify the amount of energy for a firewall, the values
calculated for the supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, and primordial black
holes show the maximum amount of energy for a firewall in such bodies. As shown
in Analysis Section III, heat produced from breaking up the entanglement of
Hawking radiation particles is converted into a terminative heat barrier. The
calculations show that if an object such as a block of granite will experience an
incomprehensible change in temperature proving the second hypothesis.

VIII. Applications of Black Hole Firewall Research


The concept of a firewall was derived as a solution to the black hole
information paradox, in which three main tenets for understanding our universe are
jeopardized. Either particles can quantum entangle with more than one other
particle (breaking the Quantum Field Theory), there is a change when an object
crosses the event horizon (breaking Einsteins Theory of Equivalence), or the
connection of information is lost (breaking unitarity). An affirmative observation of
a firewall on the surface of a black holes event horizon would effectively prove that
Einsteins Theory of Equivalence is not an universal absolute, changing the scope of
general relativity forever.

IX. Works Cited

Almheiri, Ahmed, Donald Marolf, Joseph Polchinski, and James

Sully. "Black Holes: Complementarity or Firewalls?" Arxiv (2013): n. pag. Arxiv.
Web. 24 Jan. 2015. <http://arxiv.org/pdf/1207.3123v4.pdf>.
Einstein, Albert. "Volume 6: The Berlin Years: Writings,

1914-1917." Einstein Papers. Princeton University, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2015.
<http://einsteinpapers.press.princeton.edu/vol6-trans/129>.
Ha, Yuan K. "The Gravitational Energy of a Black Hole." Arxiv 35

(2003): n. pag. Arxiv. Web. 24 Jan. 2015. <http://arxiv.org/

pdf/gr-qc/0508041.pdf>.
Mos cibrodzka, Monika, Tapas K. Das, and Bozena Czerny. "The

Pattern of Accretion Flow onto Sgr A*." Arxiv 2 (2013): n. pag.

Arxiv.org. Arxiv, 25 Sept. 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2015.

http://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0604516.pdf.
Oullette, Jennifer. "Black Hole Firewalls Confound Theoretical

Physicists." Scientific American. Scientific American Global RSS, 21 Dec. 2012.
Web. 24 Jan. 2015. <http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/black-hole-
firewalls-confound-theoretical-physicists/>.
Overbye, Dennis. "A Black Hole Mystery Wrapped in a Firewall

Paradox." The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 24 Jan.
2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/science/space/a-black-hole-
mystery-wrapped-in-a-firewall-paradox.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>