Entropy and area

ADS

Abstract

The ground-state density matrix for a massless free field is traced over the degrees of freedom residing inside an imaginary sphere; the resulting entropy is shown to be proportional to the area (and not the volume) of the sphere. Possible connections with the physics of black holes are discussed.


Publication:

Physical Review Letters

Pub Date:
August 1993
DOI:

10.1103/PhysRevLett.71.666

10.48550/arXiv.hep-th/9303048

arXiv:
arXiv:hep-th/9303048
Bibcode:
1993PhRvL..71..666S
Keywords:
  • 05.30.-d;
  • 11.10.-z;
  • 97.60.Lf;
  • Quantum statistical mechanics;
  • Field theory;
  • Black holes;
  • High Energy Physics - Theory;
  • General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology;
  • High Energy Physics - Lattice
E-Print:
10 pages, in Plain TeX with one figure included, LBL-33754. (Revised version adds an important reference and corrects minor typos.)