Speaker
Robert Mann
(U)
Description
The cornerstone of thermodynamics is the first law, which for a black hole
identifies thermodynamic energy with its mass, temperature with its surface
gravity, and entropy with its area. Recent work that posits the
identification of a cosmological constant with thermodynamic pressure results
in black holes behaving somewhat like chemical systems, with pressure-volume
terms appearing in the first law and the black hole mass interpreted as enthalpy instead of energy. This perspective on black holes leads to a broad range of novel and interesting phenomena that have counterparts in everyday chemical thermodynamics, including liquid–gas Van der Waals transitions, reentrant phase transitions seen in the mixing of two liquids, and the analogue of a triple point.
Primary author
Robert Mann
(U)
