Quick search Find article
Quick search
Find article

Thermodynamics of black holes

REVIEW ARTICLE

P C W Davies

Show affiliations


REVIEW

Black holes appear to conform to a very straightforward generalisation of standard laboratory thermodynamics. This generalised theory is examined in detail, and some concrete results are presented. The thermodynamic connection is based on Hawking's application of quantum theory to black holes, and the quantum aspects are described in detail from several standpoints, both heuristic and otherwise. The precise mechanism by which the black hole produces thermal radiation, its nature and origin, and the energetics of back-reaction on the hole are reviewed. The thermal states of quantum holes are also treated using the theory of thermal Green functions, and the entropy of the hole is shown to be related to the loss of information about the quantum states hidden behind the event horizon. Some related topics such as accelerated mirrors and observers in Minkowski space, super-radiance from rotating holes and the thermodynamics of general self-gravitating systems are also briefly discussed.


PACS

04.70.Dy Quantum aspects of black holes, evaporation, thermodynamics

04.40.-b Self-gravitating systems; continuous media and classical fields in curved spacetime

Subjects

Gravitation and cosmology

Dates

Issue 8 (August 1978)



  1. Thermodynamics of black holes

    P C W Davies 1978 Rep. Prog. Phys. 41 1313

  2. Particle detectors in Rindler and Schwarzchild space-times

    K J Hinton 1983 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 16 1937

  3. Notes on 'particle detectors'

    P G Grove and A C Ottewill 1983 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 16 3905

  4. Quantum field theory on a cone

    J S Dowker 1977 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 10 115

  5. Alternative vacuum states in static space-times with horizons

    S A Fulling 1977 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 10 917

  6. Detection of Dirac quanta in Rindler and black hole space-times and the ξ quantisation scheme

    B R Iyer and A Kumar 1980 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 13 469

  7. Acceleration radiation in a compact space

    E J Copeland et al 1984 Class. Quantum Grav. 1 179

  8. On an inertial observer's interpretation of the detection of radiation by linearly accelerated particle detectors

    P G Grove 1986 Class. Quantum Grav. 3 801

  9. Is acceleration radiation isotropic?

    P G Grove and A C Ottewill 1985 Class. Quantum Grav. 2 373

  10. Why does an accelerated detector click?

    T Padmanabhan 1985 Class. Quantum Grav. 2 117

View by subject




Export








Please login to access our web services, or create an account if you don't yet have one.

You must have cookies enabled in your web browser to be able to login.

Username
Password

Forgotten your password? Get a new one here.