Thermodynamics of Accelerating Black Holes

Abstract: We address a long-standing problem of describing the thermodynamics of a charged accelerating black hole. We derive a standard first law of black hole thermodynamics, with the usual identification of entropy proportional to the area of the event horizon -- even though the event horizon contains a conical singularity. This result not only extends the applicability of black hole thermodynamics to realms previously not anticipated, it also opens a possibility for studying novel properties of an important class of exact radiative solutions of Einstein equations describing accelerated objects. We discuss the thermodynamic volume, stability and phase structure of these black holes.