Are We All Wrong About Black Holes?

[Binary_Bark]

In the early 1970s, people studying general relativity, our modern theory of gravity, noticed rough similarities between the properties of black holes and the laws of thermodynamics. Stephen Hawking proved that the area of a black hole’s event horizon — the surface that marks its boundary — cannot decrease. That sounded suspiciously like the second law of thermodynamics, which says entropy — a measure of disorder — cannot decrease.

Yet at the time, Hawking and others emphasized that the laws of black holes only looked like thermodynamics on paper; they did not actually relate to thermodynamic concepts like temperature or entropy.

Then in quick succession, a pair of brilliant results — one by Hawking himself — suggested that the equations governing black holes were, in fact, actual expressions of the thermodynamic laws applied to black holes. In 1972, Jacob Bekenstein argued that a black hole’s surface area was proportional to its entropy, and thus the second law similarity was a true identity. And in 1974, Hawking found that black holes appear to emit radiation — what we now call Hawking radiation — and this radiation would have exactly the same “temperature” in the thermodynamic analogy.

More At: https://www.quantamagazine.org/craig-callender-are-we-all-wrong-about-black-holes-20190905/

 

[Urist]

More At: https://www.quantamagazine.org/craig-callender-are-we-all-wrong-about-black-holes-20190905/

Do you have an english translation?

 

[Jings]

Will understanding this stuff help me emigrate or get a new government?

If government was governed by second law of thermodynamics you can be assured that the disorder wouldn't decrease.

 

[Pineapple Smurf]

i thought this would be a different thread on black holes

 

[furpile]

Do you have an english translation?

Some observations were made about black holes, which seemed similar to the laws of thermodynamics. So scientist began to assume they behave the same way. This guy is now worried that modern science is based on this assumption which could be incorrect.

 

[Urist]

Some observations were made about black holes, which seemed similar to the laws of thermodynamics. So scientist began to assume they behave the same way. This guy is now worried that modern science is based on this assumption which could be incorrect.

Thanks, but wouldn't it break science if it didn't behave according to the laws of thermodynamics?

 

[longboy]

i thought this would be a different thread on black holes

Me as well.

 

[furpile]

Thanks, but wouldn't it break science if it didn't behave according to the laws of thermodynamics?

Nope. Thermodynamics is about the behavior of atoms, whereas we don't really know what is happening inside a black hole (for obvious reasons). They are speculating about gravity particles. So there is no reason for a black hole to follow the same model as thermodynamics, but the initial similarities made it seem that way.

If it turns out to be true, it will mean that a lot of scientists wasted a lot of time working under this assumption, then they have to start over. Happens every now and again.

 

[LazyLion]

You can't fool me... I saw Interstellar!