Thermodynamics of black holes in the canonical ensemble in d dimensions
Presenting author: Rui André
Thermodynamics of black holes can be studied in the canonical ensemble by enclosing them in a cavity of fixed size and whose local temperature is fixed by a heat bath on the exterior. Inside the cavity one can either have a black hole in stable thermal equilibrium, or hot flat space. In this ensemble the free energy is the relevant thermodynamic potential that parameterises the ground state of the ensemble, and phase transitions in this scenario would lead to some interesting phenomena like black hole nucleation. We work out the ensemble for Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black holes in any number of dimensions d.
Oral presentation: yes. Poster: no.