Phase Transitions and Black Hole Stability in Gauged N = 8 Supergravity

TL;DR

This paper investigates the stability of planar black holes in gauged N=8 supergravity, revealing phase transitions linked to confinement in the dual field theory, and extends understanding of black hole thermodynamics in this context.

Contribution

It demonstrates how black hole instabilities correspond to phase transitions and confinement phenomena in the dual field theory within the STU model of supergravity.

Findings

Black hole instability signals confinement transition.

Existence of AdS solitons completing phase space.

Instability linked to phase transition in dual theory.

Abstract

It is well known that there is a region of parameter space where all purely electric, static, dilatonic black holes are unstable within the STU models of maximal supergravity. We show that, for planar black holes, it is possible to complete the thermal phase space with AdS solitons, in such a way that the instability of the black holes signals the onset of confinement in the dual field theory. The analysis is done for the $D=4$ STU model of maximal gauged supergravity which naturally uplift to M-theory on the $S^7$.