> Can't you say that the blackhole as a whole maintains a quantum state that accounts for every particle in it? No - in current theories of black holes (GR), t

> Can't you say that the blackhole as a whole maintains a quantum state that accounts for every particle in it? No - in current theories of black holes (GR), the strength of gravity (the curvature of space time) at the center of the black hole is such that there is no room for a single particle to exist, everything is condensed into a single mathematical point (well, it's actually a disk I believe, since it must be able to rotate). As such, a black hole is characterized by only three things: mass, charge, and angular momentum. If it has more degrees of freedom, it's not consistent with GR. Now, the clear assumption is that mathematical solutions that involve singularities indicate limits of a theory - that is, that GR breaks down inside a black hole, requiring some other theory of gravity to explain what goes on in there. But QM is not that theory, and there is no theory which encompasses both GR and QM - though there are a few incomplete candidates.