Abstract
We extend the considerations of a previous paper on black hole statistical mechanics to the case of black extended objects such as black strings and black membranes in 10-dimensional space-time. We obtain a general expression for the Euclidean action of quantum black p-branes and derive their corresponding degeneracy of states. The statistical mechanics of a gas of black p-branes is then analyzed in the microcanonical ensemble. As in the case of black holes, the equilibrium state is not thermal and the stable configuration is the one for which a single black object carries most of the energy. Again, neutral black p-branes obey the bootstrap condition and it is then possible to argue that their scattering amplitudes satisfy crossing symmetry. Finally, arguments identifying quantum black p-branes with ordinary quantum branes of different dimensionality are presented.
- Received 4 September 1992
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.47.2438
©1993 American Physical Society