Chapter5Entropyandthermodynamicsofblackholes
Youarewhatyoueat
Itisoftensaidthatyouarewhatyoueat。Thusifyourdietispurelyjunkfoodandchocolate,thenyourplexion,ionyourphysidmentalwell-being,willberatherdifferentthanifyousubsistohydietofsaladaerraneanfood。However,itseemsthatblackholesarenotfussyeaters。Whethertheyarehupavastexpaerstellardustoracubiclight-years,theirmasswillsimilarlyinexorably。Infact,afterablackholehasfissumptuousmeal,youhavenowayoftellingwhatitwaseating,onlyhowmuchithased(althoughyoucouldtellifwhatitatehadchargeularmomentum)。Youonlykyofitsdiet,notaboutthequality。Theno-hairtheorem'desChapter2saysthattheblackholeisonlycharacterizedbyaveryfewparameters(mass,dangularmomentum),aalkaboutwhattheblaadeof。
Thislaowledgeaboutthehasbeensubyablaayseemlikeatrivialobservation,butitisactuallyratherprofound。Informationaboutablackhole'slunuhasbeeallylost。Anymatterwhichhasfallenintotheblackholehassurresidentity。We'tperformmeasurementsonthatmatter,ordisydetailsaboutit。
Blackholesandengines
Thissituationiseerilyfamiliartothosewhohavestudiedthebeautifulsubjeodynamithatfielditisquiteoandhowinformatioordissipatedthroughphysicalprocesses。Thermodynamicshasalongainghistory。Themoderntheanduririalrevolutionwheryingtoworkouthowtomakesteamengi。Energy'couldbedefinedinsuchawaythatitwasalwaysservedandcouldbevertedbetweeforms。Thisisknowlawofthermodynamics。Hhyoumakesomesbetweeypesy,therearepartiversiopermittedtomake。Forexample,althoughyouareallowedtoeipletelyi(youdothateverytimeyouusethebrakestyourpletestop),youvertheatpletelyintomeicalwork,whifortunatelyispreciselyouldliketodowithasteamehereforeasteamerainonlysumakingapartialofheatfromthefuromeicalworkwhisthewheels。Itwasultimatelyrealizedthatheatisatypeyinvolvingtherandommotionofatoms,whilemeicalworkiheatedmotionofsebitofmatter,likeaiston。Therefore,apoheisrandomness:becauseofthejigglingofatomsinahotbody,youlosetraotionoftheindividualatoms。Thisrandommotionplybeuadditionalcost。Theraogiveittheteame,entropy,inaemneverdecreasesbutmustalwayseitherstaythesameorineveryphysicalprocess。(Thisistheseodynamiewayoflookingatthisistosaythatourinformationabouttheworldalwaysdecreasesbecausetraotionofalltheatomsiem。Asenergymovesfrommacroscopicsicroscopicsplemovingpistontotherandommotionofhugeoms,theninformationislosttous。Thermodynamicsallowsustomakethisvague-soundingnotioitative。Thisinformationlossturnsouttobeexaalogoustowhatwe'vebeendesatterfallingintoablackhole。
AlthoughthermodynamicsedforsteameheprihoughttoapplytoallprotheUhefirstpeopletothinkaboutthisihblackholeswastheOxfordphysicistRogerPenrose。Hereasobecauseablackholehasspin,itmightbepossibletyfromitandthustouseitassomekindofengine。Hecameupwithaningeniousswhichmatteristhroinningblasuchawaythatsomeeswithmythanwasthrownin。Eedfrionjustoutsidetheeventhorizon(infatheergospheredisChapter3)。Penrose'sprocessslowstherotationoftheblackhole。Inprinenormousamountybeextraablathisway,butofcoursethisisjustathoughtexperimentaseemtobeatpresentapracticalsolutioh'sloycrisis!Withinafeenrose'swork,JamesBardeen,BraephenHawkingmadealandmarkadvanulatedwhattheycalledthethreelawsofblaicswhichlaidthefoundati'slaterthinkihermodynamicsofblackholes,whichrequiredtheperatureforablackholewhichisdetermismassandspin。
Blackholesaropy
Penrose'sinsightwasasignifitimpetusandgotothersthinkingaboutthethermodynamicsofblackholes。TogetherwithR。M。Floyd,heshowedthatinhisimagiheareaoftheblackhole'seventhorizooiephenHawkingstartedwonPenrose'scleverscheme。Theareadependsonthemassandspin(andaratherplicatedway,butHawkingrovethatinanyphysicalprocessthisareaalwaysinainsthesame。Ohecesofthisintriguihatiftwoblackholescoalestheareaoftheblackholeeventhorizonedblackholesislargerthaheareasofthetwinalblackholeeventhorizons。(Thisisintuitivelyreassuriheradiusoftheeventhorizohmass,andsurfaceareahasawell-knowndependenradius。)Thisisthesamesortofbehaviourthatweseewithentropyinthermodynamidthereforepeoplebegahertheentropyofabladitsareaweresomehowected。Isthismorethanjustainganalogy?OneofJohnWheeler'sstudents,JasteiaheadandproposedadireehisPhDthesis。Bekeheideasfromtheinformatiohermodynamicstuethattheareaofablackholeeventhorizonisproportionaltoitsentropy。(Theademeansthatyoutaketheareaoftheeventhorizonanddividebyoneofphysicists'fualts,thePlanckarea,whichisroughly10-70squaremetres,andwithinanumericalfactettheentropy。Thisakestheentropyofablackholeabsolutelyenormous。)
InitiallyHawkingdidn'tbelieveBekenstein'sresults,butonfurtherexaminationhewasablenotonlytotheapproachbutdeepeandingofhowblaodynamicsworks。Itisperhapswhowtheseanalysesaredonesooneappreciateboththeirpowerbutalsotheirlimitations。Theidealwayforwardinthisfieldwouldbetouseabinationofquantummedgey,calledquantumgravity,tostudysystemswhicharebothverysmall,likeasingularityinablackhole,butinlaysabigrole。Unfortuhaveagoodtheoryofquantumgravityatpresent。Agoodapproachistousegeytomodelhowspacetimedtheogetherwithquaouhebehaviourofpartithecurvedspacetime。ThisroachthatHawkingtooktoattempttouhethermodynamicsofblackholes。
&yspaceempty?
&ofthevacuum(aregiohereisnothing'there)hashadalongandtortuoushistory。MostoftheaGreekphilosophershatedtheidea,ongroundsthattodayseemextraordinarilyare,buttherewereasmallbandofatomistswhoihevatheirdesoftheworld。Uifiaissaheideaofthevacuumwasthereforeverymuchoutoffashion。However,followiionoftheairpumpin1650,thevacuumwassomethingthatyoucouldexperimee。Eventhoughtheamountofairthatyoupoutofavesselihturystillgaveyouaratherpoorvacuumbymodernstandards,theideaofnothingnesshadbeesubstantiallymorebelievable。Oeomshadbeeedbeyondallreasoihtury,theideaiohnoatomsionlyuntroversial,butiable。
omsbeeedthaheoryofphysicsarose:quantummeiecesofthishattherewerefleetiswhenitseemslikeebeserved。Thefirstlawofthermodynamics,thegrandandseeminglyunbreakableprincipleofphysisistedthatateverymomentandateveryplacetherehadtobeastritaweesandes。Ealwaysbalahuheitant。Infact,itseemsthattheUniversalacyrulesaremoreleispossibletoobtaiisperfectlyacceptabletyforashortperiodoftimeaslongasyoupayitbackquicklyafterwards。Theamountyouborrowdepeionoftheloan,byanamountdescribedbytheHeiseyprinple,eveninthesupposedly-emptyvacuumitispossibletheomakeapartiti-particlepair。Thesetwoobjewieheremelyshortperiodaher,therebypayingtheenergybathemaximumallowedtimelimit(atimeintervalwhichisshorterthemyisborrowed)。Suchaprocessgoesohetime。Itbemeasured!Wehatthevacuumisapty,butisasoupofthesepairsofso-calledvirtualpartikinginandoutofexistehevaotsterileanduisteemingwithquantumactivity。
BlackholeevaporationandHawkingradiation
Hawkihemoderhevatumfieldtheory,tostudyitsbehaviourclosetotheeventhorizonofablackhole。Hisanalysiswasmathematicalbutictureitinquiteasimpleway。Theesseapairofvirtual'particles,apartiditsantiparticle(oppositeiimass),createdclosetotheeventhorizonofablaayeornapartfromoher。Ifopair,eithertheparticleortheanti-particle,fallsihorizonitwillpluhesingularityandeverrecovered。However,itspartsidetheblackhole。Thisparticlehaslostitsvirtualpartishelessarealpartidhasthepossibilityofescape。Iftheparticledoesescape,ratherthanfallingba,itformspartofsomethingcalledHawkingradiation。Asfarasadistantobserverised,theblackholehaslostmassbecauseaparticlehasbeehadbee,takingafieldtheory,blackholesareelyblack,buttheyactuallyemitparticles。Thisargumentalsoappliestophotons,andsoveryweaklight(alsokromagiergesfromablackholeifHawkingumentiscorrect。
Allbodiesatemperatureemitthermalradiationasphotons。Youdothisyourself,ouldshowuponaninfra-redcameraeveninthedark(andthisiswhythepolidthemilitaryusesuchcameras)。Thehotterthebody,thehigherthefrequeioiiopokerishotevisiblelight。BecauseablaitsHawkingradiation,ithasatemperature(knownastheHawkiure)aswehaveseehoughthisisnormallyincrediblylow。AblackholewithamassofohatoftheSunhasaHawkiurelessthanabillionthofadegreeaboveabsolutezero(whichis273degreesbelpoihisisonereasonwhyHawkingradiationhased:itisincrediblyweak。Butitisbelievedtobethere。
Hawkingradiationdoeshoweverhaveaingtheevolutionofblackholes:itisultimatelyresponsibleforablackhole'sevehinkagainaboutthetarticles。Theeherealparticleesfromtheblackholehastobepositive,butsiualparticlepairappearedspontaneouslyfromthevathevirtualparticlesutotheblausthaveopensate。Beergyandmassareected,thehisprocessisthattheblackholehashadivemassaddedtoit,asmasswillhavedecreasedduetotheemissionofHawkingradiation。
Hawkinghadthereforediseismbywhichablackholeevaporate。Slowly,overtime,theblackholewillemitradiatiohisproitiallyincrediblyslow。Itturnsoutthatthelargerablackholeisthesmallerisitssurfacegravity'。Thisisbethoughthesurfacegravitydependsonmass,whichislargerfblackhole,gravitationalattrafollowsaninverse-squarelawandmoremassiveblackher。Thehatlargeblackholeshaveverylittlesurfacegravityaoaverylowtemperature。AlargeblackholethereforeemitslessHawkingradiationthanasmallblackhole。
However,asablackholeevaporatesaheamountofHawkingradiatiohesurfacegravityaureincreases。Assumingtheblackholeisnahismakestherateofmasslossfasterail,attheendofitslife,theblaplypopsoutofexistehelifeofabladsnotwithabangbutop。Thisevaporationprolypossibleforblackholeswhosetemperaturesarehigherthantheirsurroundings。Atthetepoichistory,thetemperatureoftheUniverse,measuredfromthespectralshapeoftheicrowaveBadradiation,is2。7degreesaboveabsolutezero。Blackholeswithmassesgreaterthanahundredmillionmillionkiloswilleatthetepochbecausetheirtemperaturesarelowerthanthatoftheirsurroundings。TheseblackholeswhichhaveasleionofthemassoftheSun,however,willbeabletoevaporatewhentheUniversehasorefollowingfurtherexpansion。Uptothispointine,allblackholeswhosemasseswerelessthaofthisslendervalueoratedawaybynow。
Theblaationparadox
&ionwhicharisesfromallofthisiseiohematterthatfellintotheblackhole?Oneschoolofthoughtholdsthatthisinformationislostforever,eveniftheblackholesubsequees。Aofviewclaimsthatthatinformationisnotlost。Becauseblackholesevaporate,theargumeheinformatiohintheifellintotheblaustsomehowbestorediionfromtheblackhole。ThusifyoualysealltheHawkingradiationfromabladupletelyyouwouldbeabletorestructthedetailsofallthematterthathadinallyfallenintotheblackhole。Therewasafamousbetbetween,oephenHaThorne,andJohnPreskillothisverymatter。ThorneandHawkingtooktheformerposition,whilePreskilltookthelatter。Theagreementwasthattheloserihanehewinner's2004,Hawkingwassuffitlypersuadedbytheideathatinformationdeedbeeheradiationfromablackholethathecededthebet,supplyihanebaseball(whetherthatstitutesarepositoryofmeaningfulinformationdependsonyouropinionofbaseball);however,thematterisstilldebated。
&ealltheseiheoreticalspes,itiswagainthatevenradiationfromablackholehasbeehehistoryofphysicsislitteredwiththerelicsofold,iultimatelywrong,theories。Experimentsaiolybeensurprisibringingforthus。Iioaomehatprobablyallredifirstprinciplesforblackholes。OhereasonsthatthefaintHawkingradiationhasnotbeemanyblackholesweknowaboutareattheehtestobjetheUheseblackholesarewaytoomassive,aoocold,toevaporateviaHawkingradiatiosareextrahtforapletelydifferentreason,whichisexaminedinChapter6andinChapter8。