Notes on Black Hole Phase Transitions

In these notes we present a summary of existing ideas about phase transitions of black hole spacetimes in semiclassical gravity and offer some thoughts on three possible scenarios or mechanisms by which these transitions could take place. We begin with a review of the thermodynamics of a black hole system and emphasize that the phase transition is driven by the large entropy of the black hole horizon. Our first theme is illustrated by a quantum atomic black hole system, generalizing to finite-temperature a model originally offered by Bekenstein. In this equilibrium atomic model, the black hole phase transition is realized as the abrupt excitation of a high energy state, suggesting analogies with the study of two-level atoms. Our second theme argues that the black hole system shares similarities with the defect-mediated Kosterlitz–Thouless transition in condensed matter. These similarities suggest that the black hole phase transition may be more fully understood by focusing upon the dynamics of black holes and white holes, the spacetime analogy of vortex and antivortex topological defects. Finally, we compare the black hole phase transition to another transition driven by an (exponentially) increasing density of states, the Hagedorn transition first found in hadron physics in the context of dual models or the old string theory. In modern string theory the Hagedorn transition is linked by the Maldacena conjecture to the Hawking–Page black hole phase transition in Anti-de Sitter (AdS) space, as observed by Witten. Thus, the dynamics of the Hagedorn transition may yield insight into the dynamics of the black hole phase transition. We argue that characteristics of the Hagedorn transition are already contained within the dynamics of classical string systems. Our third theme points to carrying out a full nonperturbative and nonequilibrium analysis of the large N behavior of classical SU(N) gauge theories to understand its Hagadorn transition. By invoking the Maldacena conjecture we can then gain valuable insight into black hole phase transitions in AdS space.