Raphael Bousso: The World as a Hologram: Black Holes, Information, and the Quest for a Unified Theory of Nature

SONIC ACTS FESTIVAL – THE DARK UNIVERSE Raphael Bousso: The World as a Hologram: Black Holes, Information, and the Quest for a Unified Theory of Nature 22 February 2013 – De Balie, Amsterdam, the Netherlands --- Black holes are among the most enigmatic phenomenon in nature. Forged from the gravitational force itself, they absorb all matter that falls into them, allowing nothing to escape. Yet, black holes do emit a faint glow: as Stephen Hawking first realised, they slowly morph into a vast cloud of radiation and ultimately disappear. After 40 years, this discovery continues to spark controversies that touch on some of the deepest questions in science: How much information does the universe contain? Can information be lost? Do space and time come to an abrupt end at the edge of a black hole? Raphael Bousso will survey some of the surprising insights that black holes have revealed to