Introduction to Black Hole Thermodynamics
High Energy Physics - Theory
2025-05-20 v4 General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Abstract
These notes aim to provide an introduction to the basics of black hole thermodynamics. After explaining Bekenstein's original proposal that black holes have entropy, we discuss Hawking's discovery of black hole radiation, its analog for Rindler space in the Unruh effect, the Euclidean approach to black hole thermodynamics, some basics about von Neumann entropy and its applications, the Ryu-Takayanagi formula, and the nature of a white hole.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2412.16795,
title = {Introduction to Black Hole Thermodynamics},
author = {Edward Witten},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.16795},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
127 pp, 30 figures; added references and minor corrections in v. 2, v. 3, v .4