Gravitational Instanton for Black Hole Radiation

Abstract

Hawking radiation is derived from the existence of a Euclidean instanton which lives in the Euclidean black hole geometry. Upon taking into account the gravitational field of the instanton itself, its action is exactly equal to one-quarter the change in the horizon area. This result also applies to the Schwinger process, the Unruh process, and particle creation in de Sitter space. The implications for horizon thermodynamics are discussed.