Chapter 8: The Firewall Paradox

In the previous chapter, we depicted black holes as “fast scramblers” and continuously expanding “computational universes.” This is a harmonious picture: information goes in, gets encrypted, and slowly radiates out. General relativity and quantum mechanics seem to have reached some kind of truce.

However, the deepest crises in physics often lurk in the calmest corners.

When we try to track a photon in the late stage of a black hole’s life cycle, we discover an irreconcilable logical deadlock. This deadlock tears apart the contract between the two pillars of physics—Equivalence Principle and Quantum Unitarity.

This chapter will explore this catastrophic inference called the Firewall. We will see that when the spacetime network tries to satisfy two contradictory masters simultaneously, its only choice is to “self-immolate”.