Negative energy radiation and the second law of thermodynamics

Abstract

It has been suggested that the second law of thermodynamics can be violated by processes involving the absorption by a hot body of negative energy fluxes of quantum origin. We show that this suggestion is false in the case of the process recently proposed by Davies, at least for a simple model of the hot body involved. Such a model body would not in fact be able to absorb the negative energy flux incident on it. We suggest that our argument can be generalized, and that there is no reason to doubt the second law.