Black hole thermodynamics probes the equivalence principle

2025/05/16 by Alonso-Serrano, Ana, Garay, Luis J., Liška, Marek
#FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)

paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2505.10934

Abstract

The equivalence principle for test gravitational physics strongly constrains dynamics of spacetime, providing a powerful criterion for selecting candidate theories of gravity. However, checking its validity for a particular theory is often a very difficult task. We devise here a simple theoretical criterion for identifying equivalence principle violations in black hole thermodynamics. Employing this criterion, we prove that Lanczos-Lovelock gravity violates the strong equivalence principle, leaving general relativity as the only local, diffeomorphism-invariant theory compatible with it. However, we also show that certain nonlocal expressions for black hole entropy appear to obey the strong equivalence principle.

Citations

• Equivalence principles in Weyl transverse gravity
• Properties of Dynamical Black Hole Entropy
• Entropy of dynamical black holes
• The Local Validity of Special Relativity, Part 2: Matter Dynamics
• A Second Law for higher curvature gravity
• Notes on black-hole evaporation
• The four laws of black hole mechanics
• Black Holes and Entropy
• Particle creation by black holes

Related

• Black Holes and Thermodynamics
• The First Law of Black Hole Mechanics
• On the testability of the equivalence principle as a gauge principle detecting the gravitational t³ phase
• The First Law of Black Hole Thermodynamics in Arbitrary Gravity and Matter Theories Using Differential Forms
• The Equivalence Principle and The Cosmological Constant Problem