Isolated horizons, p-form matter fields, topology and the black-hole/string correspondence principle

TL;DR

This paper extends the mechanics of isolated horizons in Einstein gravity with p-form matter fields to non-stationary spacetimes, deriving a local first law with intrinsic, topology-independent charges, relevant for superstring theory.

Contribution

It generalizes the analysis of isolated horizons to include non-stationary spacetimes with p-form fields, establishing a local first law with intrinsic charges independent of horizon topology.

Findings

Derived a local first law for D-dimensional isolated horizons with p-form matter.

Calculated conserved charges for five-dimensional black holes and black rings.

Argued for the fundamental role of isolated horizons in superstring theory.

Abstract

We study the mechanics of D-dimensional isolated horizons (IHs) for Einstein gravity in the presence of arbitrary p-form matter fields. This generalizes the analysis of Copsey and Horowitz to non-stationary spacetimes and therefore the local first law to include non-monopolar (dipole) charges. The only requirement for the local first law to hold is that the action has to be differentiable. The resulting conserved charges are all intrinsic to the horizon and are independent of the topology of the horizon cross sections. We explicitly calculate the local charges for five-dimensional black holes and black rings that are relevant within the context of superstring theory. We conclude with some comments on the black-hole/string correspondence principle and argue that IHs (or some other quasilocal variant) should play a fundamental role in superstring theory.