Thermodynamic route to field equations in Lanczos-Lovelock gravity
- Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Colaba, Mumbai-400 005 (India)
Spacetimes with horizons show a resemblance to thermodynamic systems and one can associate the notions of temperature and entropy with them. In the case of Einstein-Hilbert gravity, it is possible to interpret Einstein's equations as the thermodynamic identity TdS=dE+PdV for a spherically symmetric spacetime and thus provide a thermodynamic route to understand the dynamics of gravity. We study this approach further and show that the field equations for the Lanczos-Lovelock action in a spherically symmetric spacetime can also be expressed as TdS=dE+PdV with S and E given by expressions previously derived in the literature by other approaches. The Lanczos-Lovelock Lagrangians are of the form L=Q{sub a}{sup bcd}R{sup a}{sub bcd} with {nabla}{sub b}Q{sub a}{sup bcd}=0. In such models, the expansion of Q{sub a}{sup bcd} in terms of the derivatives of the metric tensor determines the structure of the theory and higher order terms can be interpreted as quantum corrections to Einstein gravity. Our result indicates a deep connection between the thermodynamics of horizons and the allowed quantum corrections to standard Einstein gravity, and shows that the relation TdS=dE+PdV has a greater domain of validity than Einstein's field equations.
- OSTI ID:
- 20864123
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 74, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.74.104015; (c) 2006 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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