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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.04379 |
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| _version_ | 1866912848137945088 |
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| author | Ruppeiner, George |
| author_facet | Ruppeiner, George |
| contents | Gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers yield values for both the black hole remnant mass $M$ and it's spin $a$, with the $169$ $a$ values collected so far crowding significantly around their average $\bar{a}=0.6869\pm 0.087$. Could this crowding relate directly to the Davies phase transition point at $a=0.68125$ from black hole thermodynamics? I argue that a necessary challenge for such a connection requires a consistent application of the thermodynamic fluctuation theory that follows from black hole thermodynamics (BHT). Specifically, necessary are a correct choice of fluctuating variables, as well as thermal equilibrium between the event horizon at the Hawking temperature $\sim μK$ and the outside universe $\sim 3 K$. I show that the former requirement follows in straightforward fashion from the BHT of the Kerr model, while the later requires an accretion disk following the Novikov-Thorne accretion disk model. I construct a thermodynamic fluctuation theory meeting both these requirements. My results open the possibility that black hole mergers are based on some dynamical model (not known to me) with a limiting attractor state at the Davies point. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2601_04379 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Could black hole thermodynamics play a role in black hole mergers? Ruppeiner, George General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology Gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers yield values for both the black hole remnant mass $M$ and it's spin $a$, with the $169$ $a$ values collected so far crowding significantly around their average $\bar{a}=0.6869\pm 0.087$. Could this crowding relate directly to the Davies phase transition point at $a=0.68125$ from black hole thermodynamics? I argue that a necessary challenge for such a connection requires a consistent application of the thermodynamic fluctuation theory that follows from black hole thermodynamics (BHT). Specifically, necessary are a correct choice of fluctuating variables, as well as thermal equilibrium between the event horizon at the Hawking temperature $\sim μK$ and the outside universe $\sim 3 K$. I show that the former requirement follows in straightforward fashion from the BHT of the Kerr model, while the later requires an accretion disk following the Novikov-Thorne accretion disk model. I construct a thermodynamic fluctuation theory meeting both these requirements. My results open the possibility that black hole mergers are based on some dynamical model (not known to me) with a limiting attractor state at the Davies point. |
| title | Could black hole thermodynamics play a role in black hole mergers? |
| topic | General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.04379 |