Robie A. Hennigar

P − v criticality in quasitopological gravity

A bstractWe investigate the thermodynamic behaviour of AdS quasitopological black hole solutions in the context of extended thermodynamic phase space, in which the cosmological constant induces a pressure with a conjugate volume. We find that the third order exact quasitopological solution exhibits features consistent with the third order Lovelock solutions for positive quasitopological coupling, including multiple reentrant phase transitions and isolated critical points. For negative coupling we find the first instances of both reentrant phase transitions and thermodynamic singularities in five dimensions, along with other modified thermodynamic behaviour compared to Einstein-AdS-Gauss Bonnet gravity.

Entropy Inequality Violations from Ultraspinning Black Holes

We construct a new class of rotating AdS black hole solutions with non-compact event horizons of finite area in any dimension and study their thermodynamics. In four dimensions these black holes are solutions to gauged supergravity. We find that their entropy exceeds the maximum implied from the conjectured Reverse Isoperimetric Inequality, which states that for a given thermodynamic volume, the black hole entropy is maximized for Schwarzschild-AdS. We use this result to suggest more stringent conditions under which this conjecture may hold.

Reentrant Phase Transitions and van der Waals Behaviour for Hairy Black Holes

We study the extended phase space thermodynamics for hairy AdS black hole solutions to Einstein-Maxwell-Λ theory conformally coupled to a scalar field in five dimensions. We find these solutions to exhibit van der Waals behaviour in both the charged/uncharged cases, and reentrant phase transitions in the charged case. This is the first example of reentrant phase transitions in a five dimensional gravitational system which does not include purely gravitational higher curvature corrections.

Black holes in Einsteinian cubic gravity

Using numerical and perturbative methods, we construct the first examples of black hole solutions in Einsteinian cubic gravity and study their thermodynamics. Focusing first on four-dimensional solutions, we show that these black holes have a novel equation of state in which the pressure is a quadratic function of the temperature. Despite this, they undergo a first order phase transition with associated van der Waals behavior. We then construct perturbative solutions for general D≥5 and study the properties of these solutions for D=5 and D=6 in particular. We note that for D>4 the solutions are described by two independent metric functions. We find novel examples of super-entropic behavior over a large portion of the parameter space. We analyze the specific heat, determining that the black holes are thermodynamically stable over large regions of parameter space.

Ultraspinning limits and super-entropic black holes

A bstractBy employing the new ultraspinning limit we construct novel classes of black holes with non-compact event horizons and finite horizon area and study their thermo-dynamics. Our ultraspinning limit can be understood as a simple generating technique that consists of three steps: i) transforming the known rotating AdS black hole solution to a special coordinate system that rotates (in a given 2-plane) at infinity ii) boosting this rotation to the speed of light iii) compactifying the corresponding azimuthal direction. In so doing we qualitatively change the structure of the spacetime since it is no longer pos-sible to return to a frame that does not rotate at infinity. The obtained black holes have non-compact horizons with topology of a sphere with two punctures. The entropy of some of these exceeds the maximal bound implied by the reverse isoperimetric inequality, such black holes are super-entropic.

Holographic heat engines: general considerations and rotating black holes

We perform the first study of holographic heat engines where the working material is a rotating black hole, obtaining exact results for the efficiency of a rectangular engine cycle. We also make general considerations in the context of benchmarking these engines on circular cycles. We find an exact expression that is valid for black holes with vanishing specific heat at constant volume and derive an upper bound, below the Carnot efficiency and independent of spacetime dimension, which holds for any black hole of this kind. We illustrate our results with applications to a variety of black holes, noting the effects of spacetime dimension, rotation, and higher curvature corrections on the efficiency of the cycle.

Quintessential Quartic Quasi-topological Quartet

A bstractWe construct the quartic version of generalized quasi-topological gravity, which was recently constructed to cubic order in arXiv:1703.01631. This class of theories includes Lovelock gravity and a known form of quartic quasi-topological gravity as special cases and possess a number of remarkable properties: (i) In vacuum, or in the presence of suitable matter, there is a single independent field equation which is a total derivative. (ii) At the linearized level, the equations of motion on a maximally symmetric background are second order, coinciding with the linearized Einstein equations up to a redefinition of Newton’s constant. Therefore, these theories propagate only the massless, transverse graviton on a maximally symmetric background. (iii) While the Lovelock and quasi-topological terms are trivial in four dimensions, there exist four new generalized quasi-topological terms (the quartet) that are nontrivial, leading to interesting higher curvature theories in d ≥ 4 dimensions that appear well suited for holographic study. We construct four dimensional black hole solutions to the theory and study their properties. A study of black brane solutions in arbitrary dimensions reveals that these solutions are modified from the ‘universal’ properties they possess in other higher curvature theories, which may lead to interesting consequences for the dual CFTs.

Thermodynamics of hairy black holes in Lovelock gravity

A bstractWe perform a thorough study of the thermodynamic properties of a class of Lovelock black holes with conformal scalar hair arising from coupling of a real scalar field to the dimensionally extended Euler densities. We study the linearized equations of motion of the theory and describe constraints under which the theory is free from ghosts/tachyons. We then consider, within the context of black hole chemistry, the thermodynamics of the hairy black holes in the Gauss-Bonnet and cubic Lovelock theories. We clarify the connection between isolated critical points and thermodynamic singularities, finding a one parameter family of these critical points which occur for well-defined thermodynamic parameters. We also report on a number of novel results, including ‘virtual triple points’ and the first example of a ‘λ-line’ — a line of second order phase transitions — in black hole thermodynamics.

Hairy black holes in cubic quasi-topological gravity

A bstractWe construct a class of five dimensional black hole solutions to cubic quasi-topological gravity with conformal scalar hair and study their thermodynamics. We find these black holes provide the second example of black hole λ-lines: a line of second order (continuous) phase transitions, akin to the fluid/superfluid transition of 4He. Examples of isolated critical points are found for spherical black holes, marking the first in the literature to date. We also find various novel and interesting phase structures, including an isolated critical point occurring in conjunction with a double reentrant phase transition. The AdS vacua of the theory are studied, finding ghost-free configurations where the scalar field takes on a non-zero constant value, in notable contrast to the five dimensional Lovelock case.

Criticality for charged black branes

A bstractWe show that the inclusion of higher curvature terms in the gravitational action can lead to phase transitions and critical behaviour for charged black branes. The higher curvature terms considered here belong to the recently constructed generalized quasi-topological class [arXiv:1703.01631], which possess a number of interesting properties, such as being ghost-free on constant curvature backgrounds and non-trivial in four dimensions. We show that critical behaviour is a generic feature of the black branes in all dimensions d ≥ 4, and contextualize the results with a review of the properties of black branes in Lovelock and quasi-topological gravity, where critical behaviour is not possible. These results may have interesting implications for the CFTs dual to this class of theories.