COMMENTS ON INFORMATION LOSS AND REMNANTS

The information loss and remnant proposals for resolving the black hol e information paradox are reconsidered. It is argued that in typical c ases information loss implies energy loss, and thus can be thought of in terms of coupling to a spectrum of ''fictitious'' remnants. This su ggests proposals for information loss that do not imply Planckian ener gy flucutations in the low energy world. However, if consistency of gr avity prevents energy nonconservation, these remnants must then be con siered to be real. In either case, the catastrophe corresponding to in finite pair production remains a potential problem. Using Reissner-Nor dstrom black holes as a paradigm for a theory of remnants, it is argue d that couplings in such a theory may give finite production despite a n infinite spectrum. Evidence for this is found in analyzing the insta nton for Schwinger production; fluctuations from the infinite number o f states lead to a divergent stress tensor, spoiling the instanton cal culation. Therefore naive arguments for infinite production fail.