Near horizon limit and Hawking Temperature of the horizon

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the Hawking temperature of an event horizon, particularly focusing on the near-horizon limit of the black hole metric and the implications of Wick rotation of the time coordinate. Participants explore the relationship between the periodicity of Euclidean time and temperature, as well as alternative methods for deriving these concepts.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that the Hawking temperature can be introduced by taking the near-horizon limit of the black hole metric and performing a Wick rotation, questioning how this relates to the temperature of the horizon.
  • Another participant references external materials, including a course series and a lecture, indicating a connection between the thermal density matrix in finite temperature quantum field theory and the gravitational path integral in Rindler space.
  • A participant asks for clarification on the relationship between the periodicity of Euclidean time and temperature, pointing to a specific dissertation for further details.
  • Some participants note that taking the near-horizon limit is often easier but not strictly necessary for deriving the Hawking temperature.
  • There are requests for references that detail methods of deriving the temperature without the near-horizon limit, with suggestions to explore the Schwarzschild solution and gravitational instantons.
  • A participant provides a transformation related to the Schwarzschild metric, indicating a mathematical approach to the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the necessity of the near-horizon limit for deriving the Hawking temperature, with some arguing it is easier while others suggest alternative methods. The relationship between periodicity of Euclidean time and temperature remains a point of inquiry without resolution.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes references to specific mathematical transformations and external resources, but the assumptions and definitions underlying these methods are not fully explored or agreed upon.

ShayanJ
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One way that people introduce the Hawking temperature of an event horizon, is by taking the near-horizon limit of the BH metric and then do a Wick rotation of the time coordinate. Then, the regularity of the metric requires that the Euclidean time to be periodic. But how can this give us the temperature of the horizon? What's the relation between the periodicity of the Euclidean time and temperature?

Thanks
 
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See note 3 and the path integral sections in the following course series:
http://www.hartmanhep.net/topics2015/

Alternatively, the full reasoning is given in this lecture (try to understand the Rindler path integral case first)
https://arxiv.org/abs/1409.1231

It is a peculiar but deep fact of gravity that an identification can be made between the thermal density matrix of finite temperature QFT and the reduced density matrix arrived from a computation of the gravitational path integral of gravity in Rindler space when you trace over the Rindler wedges.
 
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ShayanJ said:
One way that people introduce the Hawking temperature of an event horizon, is by taking the near-horizon limit of the BH metric and then do a Wick rotation of the time coordinate.

By the way, you don't have to take the near-horizon limit first! It's just often easier that way.
 
Ben Niehoff said:
By the way, you don't have to take the near-horizon limit first! It's just often easier that way.
Could you give a reference where it is done that way at some detail?
 
ShayanJ said:
Could you give a reference where it is done that way at some detail?

Try it with Schwarzschild, it shouldn't be hard. Also try looking up "gravitational instantons".
 
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Ben Niehoff said:
Try it with Schwarzschild, it shouldn't be hard. Also try looking up "gravitational instantons".
Looks like the transformation that takes ## ds^2=\frac{dr^2}{1-\frac{2m}r}+(1-\frac{2m}r)dt_E^2 ## to ## ds^2=d\rho^2+\rho^2 dT_E^2 ## is:
## \left\{ \begin{array}{c}\rho=r \sqrt{1-\frac{2m}r}-m\ln\left( \frac{\sqrt{1-\frac{2m}r}-1}{\sqrt{1-\frac{2m}r}+1} \right) \\ \rho T_E=\sqrt{1-\frac{2m}r}t_E\end{array}\right. ##
 

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