18.11.2004 (Thursday)

A black hole instability as a phase transition in field theory

Regular Seminar Sean Hartnoll (Cambridge)

at:
16:30 IC
room H503
abstract:

Generalised black holes have a horizon given by an arbitrary Einstein manifold. I will describe a criterion for the classical stability of these black holes. Roughly, spherical horizons are stable but lemon-shaped horizons can be unstable. In Anti-de Sitter space, these black holes are dual to gauge theory on a curved background given by the same Einstein manifold. I will argue that the dual thermal field theory effect is a novel phase transition induced by inhomogeneous Casimir pressures and characterised by a condensation of pressure.