Supersymmetric Mechanics – Vol. 2: The Attractor Mechanism and Space Time Singularities

Stefano Bellucci, Alessio Marrani, Sergio Ferrara (auth.)9783540341567, 3-540-34156-0, 3540341560

This is the second volume in a series of books on the general theme of Supersymmetric Mechanics; the series is based on lectures and discussions held in 2005 and 2006 at the INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati. The first volume appears as Lect. Notes Physics, Vol. 698 “Supersymmetric Mechanics , Vol .1: Supersymmetry, Noncommutativity and Matrix Models” (2006) ISBN: 3-540-33313-4.

The present extensive lecture supplies a pedagogical introduction, at the non-expert level, to the attractor mechanism in space-time singularities. In such a framework, supersymmetry seems to be related to dynamical systems with fixed points, describing the equilibrium state and the stability features of the thermodynamics of black holes. After a qualitative overview, explicit examples realizing the attractor mechanism are treated at some length; they include relevant cases of asymptotically flat, maximal and non-maximal, extended supergravities in 4 and 5 dimensions. A number of recent advances along various directions of research on the attractor mechanism are also given.

Table of contents :
Black Holes and Supergravity….Pages 1-14
Attractors and Entropy….Pages 15-24
Attractor Mechanism in N = 2, d = 4 Maxwell—Einstein Supergravity….Pages 25-76
Black Holes and Critical Points in Moduli Space….Pages 77-140
Black Hole Thermodynamics and Geometry….Pages 141-174
N > 2-extended Supergravity, U -duality and the Orbits of Exceptional Lie Groups….Pages 175-202
Microscopic Description. The Calabi–Yau Black Holes….Pages 203-209
Macroscopic Description. Higher Derivative Terms and Black Hole Entropy….Pages 211-218
Further Developments….Pages 219-233