Classical thermodynamics of gravitational collapse
arXiv:0801.3662 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.77.104003
Abstract
We study numerically gravitational collapse of a spherically symmetric instanton particle in five dimensions. We show that the late stages of the process are characterized by a nearly constant ``free energy'', the value of which matches (within numerical uncertainties) the value obtained from standard black-hole thermodynamics. This suggests a purely classical interpretation of the free energy of a black hole.
11 pages, 5 figures; v3: minor changes; published in Phys. Rev. D