Boundary States and Black Hole Entropy

Abstract

Black hole entropy is derived from a sum over boundary states. The boundary states are labeled by energy and momentum surface densities, and parametrized by the boundary metric. The sum over state labels is expressed as a functional integral with measure determined by the density of states. The sum over metrics is expressed as a functional integral with measure determined by the universal expression for the inverse temperature gradient at the horizon. The analysis applies to any stationary, nonextreme black hole in any theory of gravitational and matter fields.