Black holes and hot shells in the Euclidean path integral approach to quantum gravity

Abstract: We study a spherical black hole surrounded by a hot self-gravitating thin shell in the canonical ensemble, i.e., a black hole and a hot shell inside a heat reservoir acting as a boundary with its area and temperature fixed. To work out the quantum partition function, from which the thermodynamics of the system follows, we use the Euclidean path integral approach to quantum gravity that identifies the path integral of the gravitational system with the partition function. In a semiclassical approximation, one needs only to compute the classical action of the system. Then, one finds that the total entropy, i.e., the sum of black hole and matter entropies, is a function of the gravitational radius of the system alone. So, the black hole inside the shell has no direct influence on the entropy. One also finds the free energy, the thermodynamic energy, and the temperature stratification. The reservoir temperature is composed of a free function of the gravitational radius of the system divided by the redshift. Upon specification of the reduced temperature free function, the solutions for the gravitational radii compatible with the data are found. The black hole inside has two possible horizon radii. It is shown that there is a first law of thermodynamics for the system, another for the hot shell, and yet another for the black hole. A thermodynamic stability analysis is performed. By specifying for the free function the Hawking temperature for the gravitational radius of the system, which is not a black hole, one finds a remarkable exact thermodynamic solution. With it one establishes that pure black holes, hot shells with a black hole, pure hot shells, and hot flat spaces are phases that cohabit in the ensemble, with some acting as thermodynamic mimickers. This exact solution is a model to situations involving black holes and hot gravitons. The high temperature limits reveal important aspects.