Manus Visser
\nRadboud University<\/p>\n
\u201cEngines of Spacetime: The Thermodynamics of Blackholes\u201d<\/p>\n
Abstract
\nBlack holes are among the most mysterious objects in the universe \u2014 regions where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape, yet which behave in strikingly thermodynamic ways. Since the discovery that black holes radiate and possess entropy, the parallels between black hole horizon mechanics and the laws of thermodynamics have deepened into a central theme of modern theoretical physics. In this talk, I will review the basic principles of black hole thermodynamics and their holographic interpretation within the gauge\/gravity duality. I will then introduce a recently developed notion of dynamical black hole entropy, which extends the equilibrium thermodynamic description to non-stationary black holes. I will further explain how one can define the thermodynamic pressure and volume of a black hole using holography and quasilocal gravitational conserved charges, giving rise to a fully extended phase space. Finally, I will show how this holographic pressure and volume can be used to construct holographic heat engines \u2014 thought experiments involving thermal states dual to black holes that perform mechanical work \u2014 offering a new way in which black holes realize the laws of thermodynamics.
\nManus Visser studied physics and philosophy at the University of Amsterdam, where he obtained his PhD in theoretical physics on gravitational thermodynamics and the emergence of gravity under the supervision of Erik Verlinde. He subsequently held a postdoctoral position at the University of Geneva and was awarded a mobility fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) to carry out postdoctoral research at the University of Cambridge (DAMTP). He is currently an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics at Radboud University Nijmegen, where he is a member of the Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics (IMAPP) and the Radboud Center for Natural Philosophy (RCNP). His research lies at the interface of gravity, quantum field theory, and thermodynamics, with a particular focus on holography and the thermodynamics of spacetime. His work includes studies of holographic heat engines, the role of pressure and volume in black hole thermodynamics, a gravitational partition function for a volume of space, and the non-equilibrium thermodynamics of dynamical black holes. He is also interested in higher-curvature gravity, the thermodynamic and holographic aspects of de Sitter spacetime, and more broadly in foundational questions about spacetime and the origin of irreversibility in statistical physics.<\/p>\n
Date: 25 March 2026, Wednesday
\nTime: 15:30
\nPlace: SA-240<\/p>\n
All interested are cordially invited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Manus Visser Radboud University \u201cEngines of Spacetime: The Thermodynamics of Blackholes\u201d Abstract Black holes are among the most mysterious objects in the universe \u2014 regions where gravity is so strong that not even light can escape, yet which behave in strikingly thermodynamic ways. Since the discovery that black holes radiate [\u2026] <\/p>\n