Abstract
In a recent paper David Garfinkle and Robert Wald argue that it is possible to build a “box” which will confine and thermalize gravitational radiation. Using the results of their calculations I will show that the Garfinkle-Wald (GW) box will fail to isolate and thermalize gravitational radiation in a universe with external gravitational radiation. The absence of alocal equilibrium distribution of gravitational radiation in this model is further evidence that an operational interpretation of a quantum theory of gravity based on General Relativity and traditional matter couplings does not exist.
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References
Smolin, L. (1985).Gen. Rel. Grav.,17, 5.
Garfinkle, D., and Wald, R. (1985).Gen. Rel. Grav.,17, 5, 461.
Misner, C., Thorne, K. S., and Wheeler, J. A. (1973).Gravitation (W. H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco), p. 737.
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Dell, J. On the impossibility of a box for holding gravitational radiation in thermal equilibrium. Gen Relat Gravit 19, 171–177 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00770328
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00770328