Black Hole Entropy from Conformal Field Theory in Any Dimension
- Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, California 95616 (United States)
Restricted to a black hole horizon, the {open_quotes}gauge{close_quotes} algebra of surface deformations in general relativity contains a Virasoro subalgebra with a calculable central charge. The fields in any quantum theory of gravity must transform accordingly, i.e., they must admit a conformal field theory description. Applying Cardy{close_quote}s formula for the asymptotic density of states, I use this result to derive the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. This method is universal{emdash}it holds for any black hole, and requires no details of quantum gravity{emdash}but it is also explicitly statistical mechanical, based on counting microscopic states. {copyright} {ital 1999} {ital The American Physical Society}
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of California (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG03-91ER40674
- OSTI ID:
- 335622
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 82, Issue 14; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1999
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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