Glassy Phase Transition and Stability in Black Holes

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that including quantum corrections stabilizes black holes thermodynamically through a glassy phase transition, revealing a deep connection between black hole physics and glass-forming systems.

Contribution

It shows that quantum corrections induce a stable, glassy phase transition in black holes, extending thermodynamic analysis beyond semi-classical approximations.

Findings

Black holes become thermodynamically stable with quantum corrections.

The phase transition is identified as a glassy transition with a Prigogine-Defay ratio near 3.

Results are robust under different normalization schemes for corrections.

Abstract

Black hole thermodynamics, confined to the semi-classical regime, cannot address the thermodynamic stability of a black hole in flat space. Here we show that inclusion of correction beyond the semi-classical approximation makes a black hole thermodynamically stable. This stability is reached through a phase transition. By using Ehrenfest's scheme we further prove that this is a glassy phase transition with a Prigogine-Defay ratio close to 3. This value is well placed within the desired bound (2 to 5) for a glassy phase transition. Thus our analysis indicates a very close connection between the phase transition phenomena of a black hole and glass forming systems. Finally, we discuss the robustness of our results by considering different normalisations for the correction term.