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Title: Statistical mechanical origin of the entropy of a rotating, charged black hole

Journal Article · · Phys. Rev. Lett.; (United States)

It is shown that the entropy of a rotating, charged black hole is, in senses made precise in the paper, (i) the logarithm of the number of quantum mechanically distinct ways that the hole could have been made, and (ii) the logarithm of the number of configurations that the hole's ''atmosphere,'' as measured by stationary observers, could assume in the presence of its background noise of acceleration radiation. In addition, a proof is given of the generalized second law of thermodynamics.

Research Organization:
Theoretical Astrophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545 and California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125
OSTI ID:
5545895
Journal Information:
Phys. Rev. Lett.; (United States), Vol. 54:20
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English