We investigate quantum tunnelling methods for calculating black hole temperature, specifically the null-geodesic method of Parikh and Wilczek and the Hamilton-Jacobi Ansatz method of Angheben et al. We consider application of these methods to a broad class of spacetimes with event horizons, inlcuding Rindler and nonstatic spacetimes such as Kerr-Newman and Taub-NUT. We obtain a general form for the temperature of Taub-NUT-AdS black holes that is commensurate with other methods. We examine the limitations of these methods for extremal black holes, taking the extremal Reissner-Nordstrom spacetime as a case in point.

• Received 30 March 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.73.104010