Thermodynamics of the FLRW apparent horizon

Abstract

To investigate the relationship between gravity and thermodynamics in the case of dynamic systems, we interpret the apparent horizon of the Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) spacetime as a thermodynamic system. We derive the corresponding fundamental equation in the entropy representation and explore the consequences of demanding the fulfillment of the classical laws of thermodynamics. We investigate in detail the case of an FLRW spacetime with and without cosmological constant. We show that the interpretation of the apparent horizon as an isolated thermodynamic system is possible only under certain conditions because the analogy is not always valid for all the values of the parameters entering the dynamics of the horizon and certainly not for its entire evolution. Nevertheless, we show that the generalized second law of thermodynamics remains valid.

Keywords

• Apparent horizon
• Thermodynamics
• Cosmology