A comment on black hole entropy or does Nature abhor a logarithm?

Abstract

There has been substantial interest, as of late, in the quantum-corrected form of the Bekenstein-Hawking black hole entropy. The consensus viewpoint is that the leading-order correction should be a logarithm of the horizon area; however, the value of the logarithmic prefactor remains a point of notable controversy. Very recently, Hod has employed statistical arguments that constrain this prefactor to be a non-negative integer. In the current paper, we invoke some independent considerations to argue that the "best guess" for the prefactor might simply be zero. Significantly, this value complies with the prior prediction and, moreover, seems suggestive of some fundamental symmetry.

10 pages and Revtex; (v2) imperative title change and added one reference; (v3) minor content and style changes throughout; 7 new citations; (v4) 8 new citations, an addendum and other minor changes; (v5) yet more references, some points clarified, and a recent criticism is addressed (addendum 2)