Physicist explains why quantum mechanics says a black hole should be able to let some things out
(Phys.org) -- The journal Science is running a series of Reviews and Perspectives on the current state of knowledge and theories regarding black holes, written by leaders in the field. Some discuss what is believed to happen if two black holes collide, others describe what happens as binary stars are sucked up by black holes and whether intermediate size black holes really exist as new evidence is indicating. Yet another by doctoral fellow Rubens Reis, discusses a lucky break that allowed scientists to listen to the cry of the last bits of some matter just before being consumed by another black hole. But generating the most interest perhaps, is an article by Edward Witten of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, a theoretical physicist, who argues that one of the most basic beliefs about black holes, namely, that nothing can ever escape its gravitational pull, is wrong,...