Is the Page-time paradox paradoxical?

Abstract

I discuss how five reasonably sounding assumptions lead to a dilemma — the Page-time paradox — which appears to challenge a conventional statistical mechanical underpinning of black hole thermodynamics. By inspecting the conceptual subtleties behind each hypothesis, I list questions that require clarification before the puzzle can be deemed paradoxical. I devote particular attention to using thermodynamic arguments for a system that never reaches equilibrium. As a proof of concept, I show that the paradox is absent in a modified setting that admits an equilibrium thermodynamics formulation.