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In classical general relativity, the values of fields on spacetime are uniquely determined by their values at an initial time within the domain of dependence of this initial data surface. However, it may occur that the spacetime under consideration extends beyond this domain of dependence, and fields, therefore, are not entirely determined by their initial data. This occurs, for example, in the well-known (maximally) extended Reissner–Nordström or Reissner–Nordström–deSitter (RNdS) spacetimes. The boundary of the region determined by the initial data is called the ‘Cauchy horizon.’ It is located inside the black hole in these spacetimes. The strong cosmic censorship conjecture asserts that the Cauchy horizon does not, in fact, exist in practice because the slightest perturbation (of the metric itself or the matter fields) will become singular there in a sufficiently catastrophic way that solutions cannot be extended beyond the Cauchy horizon. Thus, if strong cosmic censorship holds, the Cauchy horizon will be converted into a ‘final singularity,’ and determinism will hold. Recently, however, it has been found that, classically this is not the case in RNdS spacetimes in a certain range of mass, charge, and cosmological constant. In this paper, we consider a quantum scalar field in RNdS spacetime and show that quantum theory comes to the rescue of strong cosmic censorship. We find that for any state that is nonsingular (i.e., Hadamard) within the domain of dependence, the expected stress-tensor blows up with affine parameter,V, along a radial null geodesic transverse to the Cauchy horizon asT_VV∼C/V²withCindependent of the state andC≠ 0 generically in RNdS spacetimes. This divergence is stronger than in the classical theory and should be sufficient to convert the Cauchy horizon into a singularity through which the spacetime cannot be extended as a (weak) solution of the semiclassical Einstein equation. This behavior is expected to be quite general, although it is possible to haveC= 0 in certain special cases, such as the BTZ black hole.

 

When a massive quantum body is put into a spatial superposition, it is of interest to consider the quantum aspects of the gravitational field sourced by the body. We argue that in order to understand how the body may become entangled with other massive bodies via gravitational interactions, it must be thought of as being entangled with its own Newtonian-like gravitational field. Thus, a Newtonian-like gravitational field must be capable of carrying quantum information. Our analysis supports the view that table-top experiments testing entanglement of systems interacting via gravity do probe the quantum nature of gravity, even if no “gravitons” are emitted during the experiment.