Related papers: Black Holes as P-Branes
We analyze the statistical mechanics of a gas of neutral and charged black holes. The microcanonical ensemble is the only possible approach to this system, and the equilibrium configuration is the one for which most of the energy is carried…
We have known for more than thirty years that black holes behave as thermodynamic systems, radiating as black bodies with characteristic temperatures and entropies. This behavior is not only interesting in its own right; it could also,…
Canonical quantization of local field theories is classical black hole spacetimes with a single horizon leads to a particle number density with a thermal distribution in equilibrium at the Hawking temperature. A complete treatment including…
The comparison of geometrical properties of black holes with classical thermodynamic variables reveals surprising parallels between the laws of black hole mechanics and the laws of thermodynamics. Since Hawking's discovery that black holes…
Black holes behave as thermodynamic systems, and a central task of any quantum theory of gravity is to explain these thermal properties. A statistical mechanical description of black hole entropy once seemed remote, but today we suffer an…
String theory usually represents quantum black holes as systems whose statistical mechanics reproduces Hawking's thermodynamics in a very satisfactory way. Complicated brane theoretical models are worked out, as quantum versions of…
We briefly review the microscopic modeling of black holes as bound states of branes in the context of the soluble D1-D5 system. We present a discussion of the low energy brane dynamics and account for black hole thermodynamics and Hawking…
The microcanonical ensemble is the proper ensemble to describe black holes which are not in thermodynamic equilibrium, such as radiating black holes. This choice of ensemble eliminates the problems, e.g. negative specific heat and loss of…
The thermodynamics of black holes is shown to be directly induced by their near-horizon conformal invariance. This behavior is exhibited using a scalar field as a probe of the black hole gravitational background, for a general class of…
Black holes behave as thermodynamic objects, and it is natural to ask for an underlying "statistical mechanical" explanation in terms of microscopic degrees of freedom. I summarize attempts to describe these degrees of freedom in terms of a…
Although we know that black holes are characterized by a temperature and an entropy, we do not yet have a satisfactory microscopic ``statistical mechanical'' explanation for black hole thermodynamics. I describe a new approach that…
To derive black hole thermodynamics in any quantum theory of gravity, one must introduce constraints that ensure that a black hole is actually present. For a large class of black holes, the imposition of such ``horizon constraints'' allows…
Inspired by the recent conjecture that black holes are condensates of gravitons, we investigate a simple model for the black hole degrees of freedom that is consistent both from the point of view of Quantum mechanics and of General…
The thermal properties of black holes in the presence of quantum fields can be revealed through solutions of the semi-classical Einstein equation. We present a brief but self-contained review of the main features of the semi-classical back…
To explain black hole thermodynamics in quantum gravity, one must introduce constraints to ensure that a black hole is actually present. I show that for a large class of black holes, such ``horizon constraints'' allow the use of conformal…
Inspired by the idea that the cosmological constant can be considered as a dynamical quantity, we present a scenario bridging certain swampland conjectures from a new look at thermodynamics of black holes. Dealing with the radial metric…
I give a fairly systematic and thorough presentation of the case for regarding black holes as thermodynamic systems in the fullest sense, aimed at students and non-specialists and not presuming advanced knowledge of quantum gravity. I pay…
We describe the horizon of a quantum black hole in terms of a dynamical surface which defines the boundary of space-time as seen by external static observers, and we define a path integral in the presence of this dynamical boundary. Using…
By analysing the infinite dimensional midisuperspace of spherically symmetric dust universes, and aply it to collapsing dust stars, one finds that the general quantum state is a bound state. This leads to discrete spectrum. In the case of a…
We review the classical thermodynamics and the greybody factors of general (rotating) non-extreme black holes and discuss universal features of their near-horizon geometry. We motivate a microscopic interpretation of general black holes…