The Statistical Mechanics of the Three-Dimensional Euclidean Black Hole
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
2010-04-28 v2 High Energy Physics - Theory
Abstract
In its formulation as a Chern-Simons theory, three-dimensional general relativity induces a Wess-Zumino-Witten action on spatial boundaries. Treating the horizon of the three-dimensional Euclidean black hole as a boundary, I count the states of the resulting WZW model, and show that when analytically continued back to Lorentzian signature, they yield the correct Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. The relevant states can be understood as ``would-be gauge'' degrees of freedom that become dynamical at the horizon.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.gr-qc/9606043,
title = {The Statistical Mechanics of the Three-Dimensional Euclidean Black Hole},
author = {Steven Carlip},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:gr-qc/9606043},
year = {2010}
}
Comments
9 pages, LaTeX. Significant sign error corrected, continuation to Lorentzian signature clarified, several other clarifications (although conclusion is unaffected). To appear in Phys. Rev. D