Numerical Test and Analysis of the 2nd Law of Black Hole Thermodynamics with Gravitational-Wave Data from Binary Black Hole Merger Events

TL;DR

This paper uses gravitational-wave data from black hole mergers to empirically test the 2nd law of black hole thermodynamics, confirming its validity through entropy calculations and correlation analysis.

Contribution

It introduces a method to test the 2nd law using real gravitational-wave data and demonstrates its consistent validity across multiple black hole merger events.

Findings

The 2nd law holds for all analyzed merger events.

Entropy calculations align with theoretical predictions.

Mathematical correlation supports the law's universal applicability.

Abstract

Gravitational-wave detections of black hole mergers in binary systems offer an excellent opportunity to test the 2nd law of black hole thermodynamics. In this paper, we review how the entropy of any astrophysical black hole is calculated and we use LIGO and VIRGO's mass and spin data measurements from black hole merger events detected over the past years to perform entropy calculations and numerically test the generalized 2nd law of thermodynamics. Besides, we analyze the mathematical correlation between the black hole merger event's initial parameters to prove and conclude that the theorem will always hold.