Einstein's equations as a thermodynamic identity: The cases of stationary axisymmetric horizons and evolving spherically symmetric horizons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that Einstein's equations near various types of horizons can be interpreted as thermodynamic identities, extending previous results to more general and dynamic horizon cases, highlighting a fundamental link between gravity and thermodynamics.

Contribution

The paper generalizes the thermodynamic interpretation of Einstein's equations to stationary axis-symmetric and evolving horizons, beyond static spherically symmetric cases.

Findings

Einstein equations near horizons can be expressed as thermodynamic identities.

The thermodynamic interpretation applies to dynamic and axis-symmetric horizons.

This connection suggests a universal thermodynamic aspect of gravitational dynamics.

Abstract

There is an intriguing analogy between the gravitational dynamics of the horizons and thermodynamics. In case of general relativity, as well as for a wider class of Lanczos-Lovelock theories of gravity, it is possible to interpret the field equations near any spherically symmetric horizon as a thermodynamic identity TdS = dE + PdV. We study this approach further and generalize the results to two more generic cases within the context of general relativity: (i) stationary axis-symmetric horizons and (ii) time dependent evolving horizons. In both the cases, the near horizon structure of Einstein equations can be expressed as a thermodynamic identity under the virtual displacement of the horizon. This result demonstrates the fact that the thermodynamic interpretation of gravitational dynamics is not restricted to spherically symmetric or static horizons but is quite generic in nature and indicates a deeper connection between gravity and thermodynamics.