91,131 research outputs found
A note on black hole entropy, area spectrum, and evaporation
We argue that a process where a fuzzy space splits in two others can be used
to explain the origin of the black hole entropy, and why a "generalized second
law of thermodynamics" appears to hold in the presence of black holes. We reach
the Bekenstein-Hawking formula from the count of the microstates of a black
hole modeled by a fuzzy space. In this approach, a discrete area spectrum for
the black hole, which becomes increasingly spaced as the black hole approaches
the Planck scale, is obtained. We show that, as a consequence of this, the
black hole radiation becomes less and less entropic as the black hole
evaporates, in a way that some information about its initial state could be
recovered.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Magnetic monopole and string excitations in a two-dimensional spin ice
We study the magnetic excitations of a square lattice spin-ice recently
produced in an artificial form, as an array of nanoscale magnets. Our analysis,
based upon the dipolar interaction between the nanomagnetic islands, correctly
reproduces the ground-state observed experimentally. In addition, we find
magnetic monopole-like excitations effectively interacting by means of the
usual Coulombic plus a linear confining potential, the latter being related to
a string-like excitation binding the monopoles pairs, what indicates that the
fractionalization of magnetic dipoles may not be so easy in two dimensions.
These findings contrast this material with the three-dimensional analogue,
where such monopoles experience only the Coulombic interaction. We discuss,
however, two entropic effects that affect the monopole interactions: firstly,
the string configurational entropy may loose the string tension and then, free
magnetic monopoles should also be found in lower dimensional spin ices;
secondly, in contrast to the string configurational entropy, an entropically
driven Coulomb force, which increases with temperature, has the opposite effect
of confining the magnetic defects.Comment: 8 pages. Accepted by Journal of Applied Physics (2009
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