A general definition of a black hole is given, and general 'laws of black-hole dynamics' derived. The definition involves something similar to an apparent horizon, a trapping horizon, defined as a hypersurface foliated by marginal surfaces of one of four non-degenerate types, described as future or past, and outer or inner. If the boundary of an inextendible trapped region is suitably regular, then it is a (possibly degenerate) trapping horizon. The future outer trapping horizon provides the definition of a black hole. Outer marginal surfaces have spherical or planar topology. Trapping horizons are null only in the instantaneously stationary case, and otherwise outer trapping horizons are spatial and inner trapping horizons are Lorentzian. Future outer trapping horizons have non-decreasing area form, constant only in the null case-the 'second law'. A definition of the trapping gravity of an outer trapping horizon is given, generalizing surface gravity. The total trapping gravity of a compact outer marginal surface has an upper bound, attained if and only if the trapping gravity is constant-the 'zeroth law'. The variation of the area form along an outer trapping horizon is determined by the trapping gravity and an energy flux-the 'first law'.

Regular (non-singular) space-times are given which describe the formation of a (locally defined) black hole from an initial vacuum region, its quiescence as a static region, and its subsequent evaporation to a vacuum region. The static region is Bardeen-like, supported by finite density and pressures, vanishing rapidly at large radius and behaving as a cosmological constant at small radius. The dynamic regions are Vaidya-like, with ingoing radiation of positive energy flux during collapse and negative energy flux during evaporation, the latter balanced by outgoing radiation of positive energy flux and a surface pressure at a pair creation surface. The black hole consists of a compact space-time region of trapped surfaces, with inner and outer boundaries which join circularly as a single smooth trapping horizon.

A unified first law of black-hole dynamics and relativistic thermodynamics is derived in spherically symmetric general relativity. This equation expresses the gradient of the active gravitational energy E according to the Einstein equation, divided into energy-supply and work terms. Projecting the equation along the flow of thermodynamic matter and along the trapping horizon of a black hole yield, respectively, first laws of relativistic thermodynamics and black-hole dynamics. In the black-hole case, this first law has the same form as the first law of black-hole statics, with static perturbations replaced by the derivative along the horizon. In particular, there is the expected term involving the area and surface gravity, where the dynamic surface gravity is defined by substituting the Kodama vector and trapping horizon for the Killing vector and Killing horizon in the standard definition of static surface gravity. The remaining work term is consistent with, for instance, electromagnetic work in special relativity. The dynamic surface gravity vanishes for degenerate trapping horizons and satisfies certain inequalities involving the area and energy which have the same form as for stationary black holes. Turning to the thermodynamic case, the quasi-local first law has the same form, apart from a relativistic factor, as the classical first law of thermodynamics, involving heat supply and hydrodynamic work, but with E replacing the internal energy. Expanding E in the Newtonian limit shows that it incorporates the Newtonian mass, kinetic energy, gravitational potential energy and thermal energy (internal energy with fixed zero). There is also a weak type of unified zeroth law: a Gibbs-like definition of thermal equilibrium requires constancy of an effective temperature, generalising the Tolman condition and the particular case of Hawking radiation, while gravithermal equilibrium further requires constancy of surface gravity. Finally, it is suggested that the energy operator of spherically symmetric quantum gravity is determined by the Kodama vector, which encodes a dynamic time related to E.

Various properties of the Misner-Sharp spherically symmetric gravitational energy E are established or reviewed. In the Newtonian limit of a perfect fluid, E yields the Newtonian mass to leading order and the Newtonian kinetic and potential energy to the next order. For test particles, the corresponding Hájíček energy is conserved and