Holographic Equipartition and Gravitational Collapse

Abstract

It is argued in the literature that gravity is an emergent phenomenon and is a statistical tendency for a gravitational system to attain the maximal entropy state which maintains the holographic principle. In this paper, we show that gravitational collapse is due to the same mechanism as the expansion of the universe that the departure of the surface degrees of freedom and the bulk degrees of freedom in a region of space drives the evolution of a gravitational system. We also argue that the ordinary thermal radiation can be taken as a signal for the existence of some kind of "confined" bulk degrees of freedom which prevent a gravitational system from collapse. When the mount of "confined" bulk degrees of freedom is not adequate, the collapse occurs untill an new equilibrium is attained. Our rusults provide a new paradigm to understand the gravitational collapse.