Many phases in a hairy box in three dimensions

TL;DR

This paper reveals a richer thermodynamic phase structure in a three-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-scalar system, identifying new saddle configurations that resemble higher-dimensional cases.

Contribution

It introduces three new saddle types in the system, expanding the understanding of its thermodynamic phase space beyond previous findings.

Findings

Existence of three additional saddle types: BG saddle, hairy BG saddle, and boson star-PL saddle.

The phase structure in three dimensions is more complex and similar to higher-dimensional systems.

The system's thermodynamic landscape includes multiple phases, not just empty and boson star saddles.

Abstract

In this paper, I investigate gravitational thermodynamics of the Einstein-Maxwell-scalar system in three dimensions without a cosmological constant. In the previous work by Krishnan,Shekhar, and Bala Subramanian (Nucl. Phys. B 958 (2020) 115115 [33]), it was argued that this system has no BH saddles, but has only empty (flat space) saddles and boson star saddles. It was then concluded that the structure of the thermodynamic phase space is much simpler than in the higher dimensional cases. I will show that, in addition to the known boson star and empty saddles, three more types of saddles exist in this system: the BG saddle, its hairy generalization, and a novel configuration called the boson star-PL saddle. As a result, the structure is richer than one might naively expect and is very similar to the higher dimensional ones.