area theorem
E844098
The area theorem is a principle in black hole physics stating that the total event horizon area of black holes cannot decrease over time in classical general relativity, analogous to the second law of thermodynamics.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| area theorem canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T10147862 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: area theorem Context triple: [The four laws of black hole mechanics, keyConcept, area theorem]
-
A.
Bekenstein–Hawking entropy
Bekenstein–Hawking entropy is the thermodynamic entropy associated with a black hole, proportional to the area of its event horizon and fundamental in linking gravity, quantum theory, and thermodynamics.
-
B.
Planck area
The Planck area is the fundamental unit of area in quantum gravity, defined as the square of the Planck length and often considered the smallest meaningful area scale in physics.
-
C.
Bekenstein bound
The Bekenstein bound is a theoretical limit in physics on the maximum amount of information or entropy that can be contained within a finite region of space with a given amount of energy.
-
D.
Schwarzschild radius
The Schwarzschild radius is the critical distance from the center of a non-rotating, spherically symmetric mass at which its escape velocity equals the speed of light, defining the boundary of a black hole.
-
E.
black hole no-hair theorem
The black hole no-hair theorem is a principle in general relativity stating that stationary black holes are completely characterized by only a few macroscopic parameters—mass, electric charge, and angular momentum—regardless of the details of the matter that formed them.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: area theorem Target entity description: The area theorem is a principle in black hole physics stating that the total event horizon area of black holes cannot decrease over time in classical general relativity, analogous to the second law of thermodynamics.
-
A.
Bekenstein–Hawking entropy
Bekenstein–Hawking entropy is the thermodynamic entropy associated with a black hole, proportional to the area of its event horizon and fundamental in linking gravity, quantum theory, and thermodynamics.
-
B.
Planck area
The Planck area is the fundamental unit of area in quantum gravity, defined as the square of the Planck length and often considered the smallest meaningful area scale in physics.
-
C.
Bekenstein bound
The Bekenstein bound is a theoretical limit in physics on the maximum amount of information or entropy that can be contained within a finite region of space with a given amount of energy.
-
D.
Schwarzschild radius
The Schwarzschild radius is the critical distance from the center of a non-rotating, spherically symmetric mass at which its escape velocity equals the speed of light, defining the boundary of a black hole.
-
E.
black hole no-hair theorem
The black hole no-hair theorem is a principle in general relativity stating that stationary black holes are completely characterized by only a few macroscopic parameters—mass, electric charge, and angular momentum—regardless of the details of the matter that formed them.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
physical law
ⓘ
theorem in general relativity ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
Hawking area theorem
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
black hole area theorem NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| analogy | second law of thermodynamics ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
event horizon of a black hole
ⓘ
systems of multiple black holes ⓘ |
| assumes |
classical matter obeys positive energy conditions
ⓘ
event horizon is a null hypersurface ⓘ global hyperbolicity of spacetime ⓘ |
| condition |
Einstein field equations hold
ⓘ
classical general relativity ⓘ cosmic censorship hypothesis ⓘ no naked singularities ⓘ no quantum effects ⓘ null energy condition ⓘ |
| consequence |
area increase during gravitational collapse
ⓘ
black holes cannot bifurcate into smaller black holes with smaller total area ⓘ irreversibility of classical black hole dynamics ⓘ |
| coreStatement | the total area of black hole event horizons cannot decrease with time in classical general relativity ⓘ |
| domain | classical regime of gravity ⓘ |
| field |
black hole physics
ⓘ
general relativity ⓘ |
| implies | black hole horizon area behaves like entropy ⓘ |
| inspired |
Bekenstein’s proposal of black hole entropy
ⓘ
development of black hole thermodynamics ⓘ |
| limitation |
can be violated by quantum effects such as Hawking radiation
ⓘ
does not apply when energy conditions are violated ⓘ |
| mathematicalTool |
Raychaudhuri equation
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
properties of null geodesic congruences ⓘ |
| notApplicableIn |
full quantum gravity
ⓘ
semiclassical evaporation phase dominated by Hawking radiation ⓘ |
| predicts |
classical gravitational radiation cannot reduce total horizon area
ⓘ
merger of two black holes has final horizon area at least as large as the sum of initial areas ⓘ total event horizon area is non-decreasing in any classical process ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Bekenstein–Hawking entropy
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Penrose process NERFINISHED ⓘ black hole thermodynamics ⓘ cosmic censorship conjecture NERFINISHED ⓘ generalized second law of thermodynamics ⓘ null energy condition ⓘ |
| statedBy | Stephen Hawking NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| status | widely accepted within its domain of validity ⓘ |
| supports | interpretation of black hole area as entropy ⓘ |
| usedIn |
constraints on gravitational wave signals from black hole mergers
ⓘ
tests of general relativity with LIGO–Virgo observations ⓘ |
| yearProposed | 1971 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: area theorem Description of subject: The area theorem is a principle in black hole physics stating that the total event horizon area of black holes cannot decrease over time in classical general relativity, analogous to the second law of thermodynamics.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
The four laws of black hole mechanics