Black Hole Entropy and the Problem of Universality
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
2008-11-26 v1
Abstract
A key test of any quantum theory of gravity is its ability to reproduce the known thermodynamic properties of black holes. A statistical mechanical description of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy once seemed remote, but today we suffer an embarrassment of riches: many different approaches to quantum gravity yield the same entropy, despite counting very different states. This ``universality'' suggests that some underlying feature of the classical theory may control the quantum density of states. I discuss the possibility that this feature is an approximate two-dimensional conformal symmetry near the horizon.
Cite
@article{arxiv.gr-qc/0702094,
title = {Black Hole Entropy and the Problem of Universality},
author = {Steven Carlip},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:gr-qc/0702094},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
10 pages, LaTeX; talk at DICE 2006, Piombino, Italy