Published June 15, 2016 | Version Published + Submitted
Journal Article Open

What is the Entropy in Entropic Gravity?

  • 1. ROR icon California Institute of Technology

Abstract

We investigate theories in which gravity arises as a consequence of entropy. We distinguish between two approaches to this idea: holographic gravity, in which Einstein's equation arises from keeping entropy stationary in equilibrium under variations of the geometry and quantum state of a small region, and thermodynamic gravity, in which Einstein's equation emerges as a local equation of state from constraints on the area of a dynamical light sheet in a fixed spacetime background. Examining holographic gravity, we argue that its underlying assumptions can be justified in part using recent results on the form of the modular energy in quantum field theory. For thermodynamic gravity, on the other hand, we find that it is difficult to formulate a self-consistent definition of the entropy, which represents an obstacle for this approach. This investigation points the way forward in understanding the connections between gravity and entanglement.

Additional Information

© 2016 American Physical Society. Received 29 January 2016; published 21 June 2016. We thank Cliff Cheung, Ted Jacobson, and Hirosi Ooguri for conversations that helped us considerably improve upon an earlier draft of this paper. This research is funded in part by the Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics at Caltech, by DOE Grant No. DE-SC0011632, and by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through Grant No. 776 to the Caltech Moore Center for Theoretical Cosmology and Physics. G. N. R. is supported by a Hertz Graduate Fellowship and a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1144469.

Attached Files

Published - PhysRevD.93.124052.pdf

Submitted - 1601.07558v1.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

Eprint ID
64381
Resolver ID
CaltechAUTHORS:20160210-142850363

Related works

Funding

Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, Caltech
Department of Energy (DOE)
DE-SC0011632
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
776
Caltech Moore Center for Theoretical Cosmology and Physics
Fannie and John Hertz Foundation
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
DGE-1144469

Dates

Created
2016-02-10
Created from EPrint's datestamp field
Updated
2021-11-10
Created from EPrint's last_modified field

Caltech Custom Metadata

Caltech groups
Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics , Moore Center for Theoretical Cosmology and Physics
Other Numbering System Name
CALT-TH
Other Numbering System Identifier
2015-038