Black holes and bits: A simple path to Bekenstein-Hawking entropy

Jorge Pinochet

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arXiv · 2602.22245

Black holes and bits: A simple path to Bekenstein-Hawking entropy

Jorge Pinochet

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Abstract

In the early 1970s, Jacob Bekenstein discovered that black holes have entropy, which became one of the greatest scientific revolutions of the second half of the 20th century. The objective of this paper is to present a simple derivation -- partly heuristic and partly geometric -- of the equation for the entropy of a black hole, which we now know as the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. We will also briefly explore the physical implications of this equation and its relationship to the work of Stephen Hawking.

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Jorge Pinochet. 2026-02-24. Black holes and bits: A simple path to Bekenstein-Hawking entropy. https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.22245

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