Black Hole Entropy and String Theory

Abstract

This is an expanded version of a talk given at ``{\em IInd Recontre du Vietnam}'' held at Ho Chi Minh City in October, 1995. We discuss several aspects of black hole entropy in string theory. We first explain why the geometric entropy in two dimensional noncritical string theory is nonperturbatively finite. We then explain the philosophy of regarding massive string states as black branes and how the Beckenstein-Hawking entropy for extremal BPS black holes may be understood as coming from degeneracy of string states. This is then discussed in the context of D-strings in Type IIB superstrings. We then describe non-BPS excitations of D-strings and their entropy and explore the possibility that their decay describes Hawking radiation. For these D-strings and other D-branes the entropy and temperature are consequences of the physical motion of stuck open strings along the D-brane and this leads to a simple space-time interpretation. Finally we speculate that the horizon may be itself regarded as a D-brane.