Black Holes: Thermodynamics, Information, and Firewalls

This book reflects theresurgence of interest in the quantum properties of black holes, culminating most recently in controversialdiscussions about firewalls.On the thermodynamic side,it describeshownew developmentsallowed the inclusion of pressure/volume terms in the first law, leading to a new understanding of black holes as chemical systems, experiencing novel phenomena such as triple points and reentrant phase transitions. On the quantum-information side,the reader learns howbasic arguments undergirding quantum complementarity have been shown to be flawed; and how this suggeststhat a black hole may surround itself with a firewall: a violent and chaotic region of highly excited states.Inthis thorough and pedagogical treatment, Robert Mann traces these new developments from their roots to our present-day understanding, highlighting their relationships and the challenges they present for quantum gravity.