"The Fabric of Space and Time is in Turmoil" --More on Stephen Hawking's Black Hole Update
"Following through with Hawking's argument, we conclude that if there
is evaporation there must be a boundary to the event horizon, a place
of transition between the inside and outside of the black hole," says
Lamontagne. "A high energy envelope, a firewall, which burns up matter,
is proposed."
However, this scenario poses a problem: if the firewall exists, we
should be able to see it. Furthermore, the existence of a firewall
around a black hole is inconsistent with the theory of general
relativity.
While the two major theories, that of general relativity (a theory of
gravity) and quantum mechanics (a description of the microscopic
world), work well in their respective fields, they are not universal:
neither can explain alone how black holes work.
"The Holy Grail would be to find THE theory that would unify the
other two. And Stephen Hawking has come back with a new proposal," says
Lamontagne. Roughly, Hawking suggests that if the firewall is not
visible, it is because its position fluctuates constantly and rapidly.
"Hawking says, and this is purely hypothetical, that the fabric of space
and time is in turmoil and we cannot define its whereabouts."
