Work

Entropy, area, and black hole pairs

Year: 1995

Type: article

Abstract: We clarify the relation between gravitational entropy and the area of horizons. We first show that the entropy of an extreme Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole is zero, despite the fact that its horizon has nonzero area. Next, we consider the pair creation of extremal and nonextremal black holes. It is shown that the action which governs the rate of this pair creation is directly related to the area of the acceleration horizon and (in the nonextremal case) the area of the black hole event horizon. This provides a simple explanation of the result that the rate of pair creation of nonextreme black holes is enhanced by precisely the black hole entropy. Finally, we discuss black hole annihilation, and argue that Planck scale remnants are not sufficient to preserve unitarity in quantum gravity.

Source: Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields

DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.51.4302

Authors: S. W. Hawking, Gary T. Horowitz, Simon F. Ross

Institutions: Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge

Language: English

Topic: Black Holes and Theoretical Physics

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Award: Research in General Relativity and Relativistic Astrophysics