paper

Statistical Mechanics and Black Hole Thermodynamics

arXiv:gr-qc/9702017 · doi:10.1016/S0920-5632(97)00348-4

Abstract

Black holes are thermodynamic objects, but despite recent progress, the ultimate statistical mechanical origin of black hole temperature and entropy remains mysterious. Here I summarize an approach in which the entropy is viewed as arising from ``would-be pure gauge'' degrees of freedom that become dynamical at the horizon. For the (2+1)-dimensional black hole, these degrees of freedom can be counted, and yield the correct Bekenstein-Hawking entropy; the corresponding problem in 3+1 dimensions remains open.

5 pages, LaTeX, uses espcrc2.sty; talk given at the Second Meeting on Constrained Dynamics and Quantum Gravity, Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy, September 1996

Cited by in corpus (22)