Black hole entropy, universality, and horizon constraints

Abstract

To ask a question about a black hole in quantum gravity, one must restrict initial or boundary data to ensure that a black hole is actually present. For two-dimensional dilaton gravity, and probably a much wider class of theories, I show that the imposition of a ‘‘stretched horizon’’ constraint modifies the algebra of symmetries at the horizon, allowing the use of conformal field theory techniques to determine the asymptotic density of states. The result reproduces the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy without any need for detailed assumptions about the microscopic theory. Horizon symmetries may thus offer an answer to the problem of universality of black hole entropy.