Black Holes: Thermodynamics, Information, and Firewalls

Black Holes: Thermodynamics, Information, and Firewalls
Author: Robert B. Mann
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 103
Release: 2015-03-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319144960

This book reflects the resurgence of interest in the quantum properties of black holes, culminating most recently in controversial discussions about firewalls. On the thermodynamic side, it describes how new developments allowed the inclusion of pressure/volume terms in the first law, leading to a new understanding of black holes as chemical systems, experiencing novel phenomena such as triple points and reentrant phase transitions. On the quantum-information side, the reader learns how basic arguments undergirding quantum complementarity have been shown to be flawed; and how this suggests that a black hole may surround itself with a firewall: a violent and chaotic region of highly excited states. In this thorough and pedagogical treatment, Robert Mann traces these new developments from their roots to our present-day understanding, highlighting their relationships and the challenges they present for quantum gravity.

Black Hole Information and Thermodynamics

Black Hole Information and Thermodynamics
Author: Dieter Lüst
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 116
Release: 2019-01-25
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030109194

Based on Prof. Lüst's Masters course at the University of Munich, this book begins with a short introduction to general relativity. It then presents black hole solutions, and discusses Penrose diagrams, black hole thermodynamics and entropy, the Unruh effect, Hawking radiation, the black hole information problem, black holes in supergravity and string theory, the black hole microstate counting in string theory, asymptotic symmetries in general relativity, and a particular quantum model for black holes. The book offers an up-to-date summary of all the pertinent questions in this highly active field of physics, and is ideal reading for graduate students and young researchers.

Evolution of Black Holes in Anti-de Sitter Spacetime and the Firewall Controversy

Evolution of Black Holes in Anti-de Sitter Spacetime and the Firewall Controversy
Author: Yen Chin Ong
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019-03-28
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9783662569153

This thesis focuses on the recent firewall controversy surrounding evaporating black holes, and shows that in the best understood example concerning electrically charged black holes with a flat event horizon in anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetime, the firewall does not arise. The firewall, which surrounds a sufficiently old black hole, threatens to develop into a huge crisis since it could occur even when spacetime curvature is small, which contradicts general relativity. However, the end state for asymptotically flat black holes is ill-understood since their curvature becomes unbounded. This issue is avoided by working with flat charged black holes in AdS. The presence of electrical charge is crucial since black holes inevitably pick up charges throughout their long lifetime. These black holes always evolve toward extremal limit, and are then destroyed by quantum gravitational effects. This happens sooner than the time required to decode Hawking radiation so that the firewall never sets in, as conjectured by Harlow and Hayden. Motivated by the information loss paradox, the author also investigates the possibility that “monster” configurations might exist, with an arbitrarily large interior bounded by a finite surface area. Investigating such an object in AdS shows that in the best understood case, such an object -- much like a firewall -- cannot exist.

Black Holes

Black Holes
Author: Derek J. Raine
Publisher: Imperial College Press
Total Pages: 170
Release: 2005
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1860945864

Providing an introduction to the fascinating subject of black holes, this book is suitable for advanced undergraduates and first year postgraduates. It offers an introduction to the exact solutions of Einstein's vacuum field equations, describing spherical and axisymmetric (rotating) black holes.

Black Holes and Relativistic Stars

Black Holes and Relativistic Stars
Author: Robert M. Wald
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 1998
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780226870359

A comprehensive summary of progress made during the past decade on the theory of black holes and relativistic stars, this collection includes discussion of structure and oscillations of relativistic stars, the use of gravitational radiation detectors, observational evidence for black holes, cosmic censorship, numerical work related to black hole collisions, the internal structure of black holes, black hole thermodynamics, information loss and other issues related to the quantum properties of black holes, and recent developments in the theory of black holes in the context of string theory. Volume contributors: Valeria Ferrari, John L. Friedman, James B. Hartle, Stephen W. Hawking, Gary T. Horowitz, Werner Israel, Roger Penrose, Martin J. Rees, Rafael D. Sorkin, Saul A. Teukolsky, Kip S. Thorne, and Robert M. Wald.

Black Holes: New Horizons

Black Holes: New Horizons
Author: Sean Alan Hayward
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2013-03-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9814425710

Black holes, once just fascinating theoretical predictions of how gravity warps space-time according to Einstein's theory, are now generally accepted as astrophysical realities, formed by post-supernova collapse, or as supermassive black holes mysteriously found at the cores of most galaxies, powering active galactic nuclei, the most powerful objects in the universe. Theoretical understanding has progressed in recent decades with a wider realization that local concepts should characterize black holes, rather than the global concepts found in textbooks. In particular, notions such as trapping horizon allow physically meaningful quantities and equations, describing how a black hole evolves. This has led to discoveries in fields as diverse as classical and numerical general relativity, differential geometry, thermodynamics, quantum field theory, and quantum gravity. There is heretofore no one volume which covers all the main aspects, so this volume collects together summaries and recent research, each chapter written by an expert or experts in a given field. This is intended for readers at a graduate level upwards, who wish to learn about the wide range of research concerning black holes.

Introduction To Black Holes, Information And The String Theory Revolution, An: The Holographic Universe

Introduction To Black Holes, Information And The String Theory Revolution, An: The Holographic Universe
Author: Leonard Susskind
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2004-12-23
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9814481521

Over the last decade the physics of black holes has been revolutionized by developments that grew out of Jacob Bekenstein's realization that black holes have entropy. Stephen Hawking raised profound issues concerning the loss of information in black hole evaporation and the consistency of quantum mechanics in a world with gravity. For two decades these questions puzzled theoretical physicists and eventually led to a revolution in the way we think about space, time, matter and information. This revolution has culminated in a remarkable principle called “The Holographic Principle”, which is now a major focus of attention in gravitational research, quantum field theory and elementary particle physics. Leonard Susskind, one of the co-inventors of the Holographic Principle as well as one of the founders of String theory, develops and explains these concepts.

Asymptotic Safety and Black Holes

Asymptotic Safety and Black Holes
Author: Kevin Falls
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2013-11-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319012940

One of the open challenges in fundamental physics is to combine Einstein's theory of general relativity with the principles of quantum mechancis. In this thesis, the question is raised whether metric quantum gravity could be fundamental in the spirit of Steven Weinberg's seminal asymptotic safety conjecture, and if so, what are the consequences for the physics of small, possibly Planck-size black holes? To address the first question, new techniques are provided which allow, for the first time, a self-consistent study of high-order polynomial actions including up to 34 powers in the Ricci scalar. These novel insights are then exploited to explain quantum gravity effects in black holes, including their horizon and causal structure, conformal scaling, evaporation, and the thermodynamics of quantum space-time. Results indicate upper limits on black hole temperature, and the existence of small black holes based on asymptotic safety for gravity and thermodynamical arguments.

Black Hole Physics

Black Hole Physics
Author: Daniel Grumiller
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2022-11-07
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3031103432

This textbook gradually introduces the reader to several topics related to black hole physics with a didactic approach. It starts with the most basic black hole solution, the Schwarzschild metric, and discusses the basic classical properties of black hole solutions as seen by different probes. Then it reviews various theorems about black hole properties as solutions to Einstein gravity coupled to matter fields, conserved charges associated with black holes, and laws of black hole thermodynamics. Next, it elucidates semiclassical and quantum aspects of black holes, which are relevant in ongoing and future research. The book is enriched with many exercises and solutions to assist in the learning. The textbook is designed for physics graduate students who want to start their research career in the field of black holes; postdocs who recently changed their research focus towards black holes and want to get up-to-date on recent and current research topics; advanced researchers intending to teach (or learn) basic and advanced aspects of black hole physics and the associated mathematical tools. Besides general relativity, the reader needs to be familiar with standard undergraduate physics, like thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics. Moreover, familiarity with basic quantum field theory in Minkowski space is assumed. The book covers the rest of the needed background material in the main text or the appendices.

Trends in Black Hole Research

Trends in Black Hole Research
Author: Paul V. Kreitler
Publisher: Nova Publishers
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2006
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9781594544750

A black hole is a point of extreme mass in spacetime with a radius, or event horizon, inside of which all electromagnetic radiation (including light) is trapped by gravity. A black hole is an extremely compact object, collapsed by gravity which has overcome electric and nuclear forces. It is believed that stars appreciably larger than the Sun, once they have exhausted all their nuclear fuel, collapse to form black holes: they are "black" because no light escapes their intense gravity. Material attracted to a black hole, though, gains enormous energy and can radiate part of it before being swallowed up. Some astronomers believe that enormously massive black holes exist in the centre of our galaxy and of other galaxies. This new book brings together leading research from throughout the world.