Stephen Hawking’s black hole information paradox could be solved — if the universe has 7 dimensions

Stephen Hawking’s black hole information paradox could be solved — if the universe has 7 dimensions

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A swirl of blue and red light around a dark black hole in the right side of the image sits on a white grid of blocks showing the fabric of spacetime>

An artist’s impression of space-time around a great void. New theoretical research study tips that 3 concealed measurements of the universes might avoid great voids from ever really vanishing.
(Image credit: MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY by means of Getty Images)

A brand-new theoretical research study recommends that great voids might never ever completely vaporize, which opposes a notorious Stephen Hawking theory that appears to break basic laws of quantum mechanicsRather, great voids might leave small, steady residues that keep all the details they as soon as taken in, the research study recommends.

There’s a twist– actually. For the theory to work, deep space needs to have 3 additional covert measurements that people can not view, making space-time seven-dimensional. As these concealed measurements fold and twist, they produce a repulsive force that avoids great voids from vaporizing completely.

A paradox that challenges the structures of physicsGreat voids are frequently considered cosmic traps from which absolutely nothing gets away. Considering that the 1970s, physicists have actually understood that these cosmic leviathans are not completely black. Famous theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking proposed that great voids release radiation and gradually vaporize gradually, which results in an unpleasant contradiction called the details loss paradox.

“Imagine you throw a book into a fire,” research study co-author Richard Pinčáka senior scientist at the Slovak Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Experimental Physics, informed Live Science by means of e-mail. “The book is destroyed, but in principle you could reconstruct every word from the smoke, ash, and heat — the information is scrambled, not lost.”

When a black hole vaporizes totally, the details about whatever that fell into it appears to disappear, breaking a core concept of quantum mechanics.

For years, physicists have actually struggled to solve this paradox. Now, the brand-new research study, released March 19 in the journal General Relativity and Gravitationrecommends the response might depend on the surprise structure of space-time itself.

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An illustration of a 7-dimensional torsion knot, which is thought to put in a repulsive force that might avoid great voids from vaporizing. (Image credit: Institute of Experimental Physics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences)The brand-new research study checks out a universe with more measurements than the familiar 4. In this structure, the universe includes 7 measurements, 3 of which are compact and undetectable at daily scales.

“We experience three dimensions of space and one of time — four dimensions in total,” Pinčák stated. “Our model proposes that the universe actually has seven dimensions: the four we know, plus three tiny extra dimensions curled up so tightly that we cannot directly perceive them.”

These additional measurements are organized in an extremely in proportion structure called a G ₂ geometry. This mathematical structure, typically checked out in innovative theories such as a variation of string theory referred to as M-theory, figures out how the covert measurements are “folded.”

“Think of it like origami,” Pinčák stated. “The way you fold the paper determines what the final shape can do.”

In the brand-new design, this geometric structure produces a physical result called torsion, which can be considered a twisting of space-time. This torsion field ends up to play a vital function in great void physics.

Torsion and the birth of steady great void residuesThe research study reveals that torsion produces a repulsive force that ends up being crucial at exceptionally little scales, near completion of a great void’s life. As the great void diminishes through Hawking radiation, this force ultimately neutralizes additional collapse.

“This repulsive force acts as a brake, halting the evaporation before the black hole vanishes completely,” Pinčák stated.

Rather of vanishing, the great void supports into a small residue. According to the design, this remaining things has a mass of about 9 × 10 ⁻⁴¹ kgs– some 10 billion times smaller sized than an electron.

Most importantly, this residue can keep the details that fell under the great void, preventing any infraction of quantum mechanics. The details is encoded in subtle oscillations called quasinormal modes, which function as providers of the lost information.

An illustration of a torsion-stabilized great void residue. Geometric torsion produces a repulsive force(colored arrows)at Planck densities, stopping the last of Hawking evaporation and yielding a tiny residue. The upper-right inset reveals the efficient prospective Veff (M)with a minimum at the residue mass. The lower-right inset shows the underlying G2-manifold geometry. (Image credit: Institute of Experimental Physics of the Slovak Academy of Sciences)The design likewise exposes an unanticipated connection to particle physics: The presence of 3 surprise measurements, together with the existence of torsion, produces the pattern of particle interactions accountable for the Higgs system, the phenomenon that provides mass to primary particles like electrons and quarks.

“The same torsion field… generates a potential energy landscape that is identical in form to the one responsible for giving mass to the W and Z bosons — the carriers of the weak nuclear force,” Pinčák stated.

This link connects the habits of great voids to the electroweak scale, a widely known energy scale in particle physics.

Where the brand-new theory reaches its limitationsIn spite of its appeal, the design deals with crucial difficulties. The basic description of great void evaporation counts on a semiclassical approximation, which is anticipated to break down at incredibly little scales near the Planck mass– around 10-5 grams. This is the mass scale at which quantum gravitational impacts end up being strong and difficult to disregard.

“As the black hole shrinks toward the Planck scale, all existing models — ours included — must eventually confront the transition into the deep quantum-gravity regime,” Pinčák kept in mind.

In this program, a complete theory of quantum gravity is needed, however such a theory stays insufficient. The brand-new work does not declare to fix this issue completely. Rather, it offers a concrete system for how brand-new physics might emerge at the last of evaporation.

“What distinguishes our approach is that we do not claim semiclassical evaporation operates all the way down to the remnant mass,” Pinčák stated. “At that point, a new physical effect … takes over and stabilises the configuration.”

Evaluating the theory straight will be exceptionally challenging; the appropriate energy scales are far beyond the reach of present particle accelerators. The design makes clear forecasts that could, in concept, be checked.

It anticipates that theoretical Kaluza-Klein particles associated with additional measurements ought to have masses of around 10 ¹⁶ gigaelectronvolts– about 14 orders of magnitude much heavier than the leading quark, the most huge recognized primary particle. Identifying lighter variations of these particles with existing or future accelerators would dismiss the design.

Another possibility includes observing the lasts of great void evaporation, especially for primitive great voids. Future gamma-ray telescopes or gravitational wave detectors might offer indirect proof for steady residues.

“The important point is that the predictions are concrete — the model can be wrong, which is what makes it scientific,” Pinčák stated.

Looking ahead, the scientists intend to link their structure more straight to essential theories such as M-theory and to much better comprehend how details is saved in the residues. If verified, the concept that great voids leave small, information-rich residues might improve our understanding of gravity, quantum mechanics and the basic structure of deep space.

Pinčák, R., Pigazzini, A., Pudlák, M., & & Bartoš, E. (2026 ). Geometric origin of a steady great void residue from torsion in G$$_ 2$$-manifold geometry. General Relativity and Gravitation 58(3 ). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10714-026-03528-z

Just how much do you learn about great voids? Evaluate your cosmic understanding with our great void test

Andrey got his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in primary particle physics from Novosibirsk State University in Russia, and a Ph.D. in string theory from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. He works as a science author, focusing on physics, area, and innovation. His short articles have actually been released in AdvancedScienceNews PhysicsWorld Scienceand other outlets.

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