Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-23-2005

Abstract

The thermodynamics of black holes is shown to be directly induced by their near-horizon conformal invariance. This behavior is exhibited using a scalar field as a probe of the black hole gravitational background, for a general class of metrics in D spacetime dimensions (with D≥4). The ensuing analysis is based on conformal quantum mechanics, within a hierarchical near-horizon expansion. In particular, the leading conformal behavior provides the correct quantum statistical properties for the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy, with the near-horizon physics governing the thermodynamics from the outset. Most importantly: (i) this treatment reveals the emergence of holographic properties; (ii) the conformal coupling parameter is shown to be related to the Hawking temperature; and (iii) Schwarzschild-like coordinates, despite their “coordinate singularity,” can be used self-consistently to describe the thermodynamics of black holes.

Comments

Article published in Physical Review D, 71, pp 104029 (2005).

© 2005 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevD.71.104029

DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.71.104029

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