Fuzzball (string theory)

Fuzzballs (also called stringy stars) are conjectured by some string theorists to be the true quantum description of black holes. The proposal is that string theory would resolve two major problems of classical black holes - the singularity of infinite space-time curvature, and the missing multiplicity of states to account for Black Hole Entropy - by replacing the usual black hole interior by complicated (or fuzzy) spacetimes reacting to the presence of strings.

The event horizon

Samir Mathur of Ohio State University, with postdoctoral researcher Oleg Lunin, calculated that what could be considered an effective event horizon of a fuzzball agrees with the current theory of black holes, but in one way it is different. The event horizon of a black hole is very precise and strict while in a fuzzball the event horizon is very much like a mist; it is fuzzy, hence the name 'fuzzball'.

The essence of the black hole

Black holes have grabbed attention as the massive killers of the universe that destroy anything in their path—even light cannot escape their pull. However fuzzballs have redefined this idea. As described earlier a fuzzball doesn't have a prominent singularity at its center, and so the destruction of data that is the essence of a black hole no longer exists in a fuzzball. Instead the data from the fuzzball marks the strings that carry the information in vibrations. These data can be given out by the escape of Hawking radiation.

The information paradox

Black holes create a problem; they cause a contradiction widely known as the black hole information paradox, which means that they don't obey the laws of quantum physics. In the classic model, a black hole can be made of anything but will always end up in the same state, violating the quantum mechanical law of reversibility. However, fuzzballs may solve this problem by the fact that information that enters a fuzzball is given out by the vibrations in the strings that make them up.

External links

* [http://www.spacetoday.org/DeepSpace/Stars/BlackHoles/BlackHoleFuzzball.html Are Black Holes Fuzzballs?]
* [http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/fuzzball.htm Information paradox solved? If so, Black Holes are "Fuzzballs"]
* [http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~mathur/faq.pdf Frequently Asked Questions about Fuzzballs]