Statistical mechanics of gravitons in a box and the black hole entropy

This paper is devoted to the study of the statistical mechanics of trapped gravitons obtained by 'trapping' a spherical gravitational wave in a box. As a consequence, a discrete spectrum dependent on the Legendre index 2 similar to the harmonic oscillator one is obtained and a statistical study is performed. The mean energy < E > results as a sum of two discrete Planck distributions with different dependent frequencies. As an important application, we derive the semiclassical Bekenstein-Hawking entropy formula for a static Schwarzschild black hole by only requiring that the black hole internal energy U is provided by its ADM rest energy, without invoking particular quantum gravity theories. This seriously suggests that the interior of a black hole can be composed of trapped gravitons at a thermodynamical temperature proportional by a factor similar or equal to 2 to the horizon temperature T-h. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.