The Thermodynamics of Black Holes

"The Thermodynamics of Black Holes"

Robert M. Wald

	Abstract
1	Introduction
2	Classical Black Hole Thermodynamics
3	Hawking Radiation
4	The Generalized Second Law (GSL)
	4.1	Arguments for the validity of the GSL
	4.2	Entropy bounds
5	Calculations of Black Hole Entropy
6	Open Issues
	6.1	Does a pure quantum state evolve to a mixed state in the process of black hole formation and evaporation?
	6.2	What (and where) are the degrees of freedom responsible for black hole entropy?
7	Acknowledgements
	References
	Footnotes