392 research outputs found
Non-Archimedean character of quantum buoyancy and the generalized second law of thermodynamics
Quantum buoyancy has been proposed as the mechanism protecting the
generalized second law when an entropy--bearing object is slowly lowered
towards a black hole and then dropped in. We point out that the original
derivation of the buoyant force from a fluid picture of the acceleration
radiation is invalid unless the object is almost at the horizon, because
otherwise typical wavelengths in the radiation are larger than the object. The
buoyant force is here calculated from the diffractive scattering of waves off
the object, and found to be weaker than in the original theory. As a
consequence, the argument justifying the generalized second law from buoyancy
cannot be completed unless the optimal drop point is next to the horizon. The
universal bound on entropy is always a sufficient condition for operation of
the generalized second law, and can be derived from that law when the optimal
drop point is close to the horizon. We also compute the quantum buoyancy of an
elementary charged particle; it turns out to be negligible for energetic
considerations. Finally, we speculate on the significance of the absence from
the bound of any mention of the number of particle species in nature.Comment: RevTeX, 16 page
Bound states and the Bekenstein bound
We explore the validity of the generalized Bekenstein bound, S <= pi M a. We
define the entropy S as the logarithm of the number of states which have energy
eigenvalue below M and are localized to a flat space region of width a. If
boundary conditions that localize field modes are imposed by fiat, then the
bound encounters well-known difficulties with negative Casimir energy and large
species number, as well as novel problems arising only in the generalized form.
In realistic systems, however, finite-size effects contribute additional
energy. We study two different models for estimating such contributions. Our
analysis suggests that the bound is both valid and nontrivial if interactions
are properly included, so that the entropy S counts the bound states of
interacting fields.Comment: 35 page
The "physical process" version of the first law and the generalized second law for charged and rotating black holes
We investigate both the ``physical process'' version of the first law and the
second law of black hole thermodynamics for charged and rotating black holes.
We begin by deriving general formulas for the first order variation in ADM mass
and angular momentum for linear perturbations off a stationary, electrovac
background in terms of the perturbed non-electromagnetic stress-energy, , and the perturbed charge current density, . Using these
formulas, we prove the "physical process version" of the first law for charged,
stationary black holes. We then investigate the generalized second law of
thermodynamics (GSL) for charged, stationary black holes for processes in which
a box containing charged matter is lowered toward the black hole and then
released (at which point the box and its contents fall into the black hole
and/or thermalize with the ``thermal atmosphere'' surrounding the black hole).
Assuming that the thermal atmosphere admits a local, thermodynamic description
with respect to observers following orbits of the horizon Killing field, and
assuming that the combined black hole/thermal atmosphere system is in a state
of maximum entropy at fixed mass, angular momentum, and charge, we show that
the total generalized entropy cannot decrease during the lowering process or in
the ``release process''. Consequently, the GSL always holds in such processes.
No entropy bounds on matter are assumed to hold in any of our arguments.Comment: 35 pages; 1 eps figur
Extensive Entropy Bounds
It is shown that, for systems in which the entropy is an extensive function
of the energy and volume, the Bekenstein and the holographic entropy bounds
predict new results. More explicitly, the Bekenstein entropy bound leads to the
entropy of thermal radiation (the Unruh-Wald bound) and the spherical entropy
bound implies the "causal entropy bound". Surprisingly, the first bound shows a
close relationship between black hole physics and the Stephan-Boltzmann law
(for the energy and entropy flux densities of the radiation emitted by a hot
blackbody). Furthermore, we find that the number of different species of
massless fields is bounded by .Comment: 8 pages, revtex, To appear in Phys. Rev.
No hair for spherical black holes: charged and nonminimally coupled scalar field with self--interaction
We prove three theorems in general relativity which rule out classical scalar
hair of static, spherically symmetric, possibly electrically charged black
holes. We first generalize Bekenstein's no--hair theorem for a multiplet of
minimally coupled real scalar fields with not necessarily quadratic action to
the case of a charged black hole. We then use a conformal map of the geometry
to convert the problem of a charged (or neutral) black hole with hair in the
form of a neutral self--interacting scalar field nonminimally coupled to
gravity to the preceding problem, thus establishing a no--hair theorem for the
cases with nonminimal coupling parameter or . The
proof also makes use of a causality requirement on the field configuration.
Finally, from the required behavior of the fields at the horizon and infinity
we exclude hair of a charged black hole in the form of a charged
self--interacting scalar field nonminimally coupled to gravity for any .Comment: 30 pages, RevTeX. Sec.IV corrected, simplified and shortened.
Corrections to Sec.IIA between Eqs. 2.7 and Eq.2.1. First two paragraphs of
Sec. VC new. To appear Phys. Rev. D, Oct. 15, 199
Is it possible to recover information from the black-hole radiation?
In the framework of communication theory, we analyse the gedanken experiment
in which beams of quanta bearing information are flashed towards a black hole.
We show that stimulated emission at the horizon provides a correlation between
incoming and outgoing radiations consisting of bosons. For fermions, the
mechanism responsible for the correlation is the Fermi exclusion principle.
Each one of these mechanisms is responsible for the a partial transfer of the
information originally coded in the incoming beam to the black--hole radiation.
We show that this process is very efficient whenever stimulated emission
overpowers spontaneous emission (bosons). Thus, black holes are not `ultimate
waste baskets of information'.Comment: 9 pages (2 figures available upon request), CERN-TH 6811/93, (LateX
file
Flat space physics from holography
We point out that aspects of quantum mechanics can be derived from the
holographic principle, using only a perturbative limit of classical general
relativity. In flat space, the covariant entropy bound reduces to the
Bekenstein bound. The latter does not contain Newton's constant and cannot
operate via gravitational backreaction. Instead, it is protected by - and in
this sense, predicts - the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures; v2: minor correction
No-Hair Theorem for Spontaneously Broken Abelian Models in Static Black Holes
The vanishing of the electromagnetic field, for purely electric
configurations of spontaneously broken Abelian models, is established in the
domain of outer communications of a static asymptotically flat black hole. The
proof is gauge invariant, and is accomplished without any dependence on the
model. In the particular case of the Abelian Higgs model, it is shown that the
only solutions admitted for the scalar field become the vacuum expectation
values of the self-interaction.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, RevTeX; some changes to match published versio
Generalized Second Law of Black Hole Thermodynamics and Quantum Information Theory
We propose a quantum version of a gedanken experiment which supports the
generalized second law of black hole thermodynamics. A quantum measurement of
particles in the region outside of the event horizon decreases the entropy of
the outside matter due to the entanglement of the inside and outside particle
states. This decrease is compensated, however, by the increase in the detector
entropy. If the detector is conditionally dropped into the black hole depending
on the experimental outcome, the decrease of the matter entropy is more than
compensated by the increase of the black hole entropy via the increase of the
black hole mass which is ultimately attributed to the work done by the
measurement.Comment: 5 pages, RevTex, submitted to PR
Fine-structure constant variability, equivalence principle and cosmology
It has been widely believed that variability of the fine-structure constant
alpha would imply detectable violations of the weak equivalence principle. This
belief is not justified in general. It is put to rest here in the context of
the general framework for alpha variability [J. D. Bekenstein, Phys. Rev. D 25,
1527 (1982)] in which the exponent of a scalar field plays the role of the
permittivity and inverse permeability of the vacuum. The coupling of particles
to the scalar field is necessarily such that the anomalous force acting on a
charged particle by virtue of its mass's dependence on the scalar field is
cancelled by terms modifying the usual Coulomb force. As a consequence a
particle's acceleration in external fields depends only on its charge to mass
ratio, in accordance with the principle. And the center of mass acceleration of
a composite object can be proved to be independent of the object's internal
constitution, as the weak equivalence principle requires. Likewise the widely
employed assumption that the Coulomb energy of matter is the principal source
of the scalar field proves wrong; Coulomb energy effectively cancels out in the
continuum description of the scalar field's dynamics. This cancellation
resolves a cosmological conundrum: with Coulomb energy as source of the scalar
field, the framework would predict a decrease of alpha with cosmological
expansion, whereas an increase is claimed to be observed. Because of the said
cancellation, magnetic energy of cosmological baryonic matter is the main
source of the scalar field. Consequently the expansion is accompanied by an
increase in alpha; for reasonable values of the framework's sole parameter,
this occurs at a rate consistent with the observers' claims.Comment: RevTeX-4, 22 pages, no figures, added a section on caveats as well as
several new references with discussion of them in body. To appear in Phys.
Rev.
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