Black Rings, Supertubes, and a Stringy Resolution of Black Hole Non-Uniqueness

TL;DR

This paper constructs a string theory solution for a five-dimensional black ring with three charges, addressing black hole non-uniqueness by linking microscopic string descriptions to macroscopic black objects.

Contribution

It introduces a low-energy string theory solution for a charged black ring, clarifies its pathologies, and connects it to D1-D5 supertubes, offering a partial resolution to black hole non-uniqueness.

Findings

Black ring solution with three charges constructed

Pathologies like closed timelike curves identified and explained

String microscopic description distinguishes black holes from black rings

Abstract

In order to address the issues raised by the recent discovery of non-uniqueness of black holes in five dimensions, we construct a solution of string theory at low energies describing a five-dimensional spinning black ring with three charges that can be interpreted as D1-brane, D5-brane, and momentum charges. The solution possesses closed timelike curves (CTCs) and other pathologies, whose origin we clarify. These pathologies can be avoided by setting any one of the charges, e.g. the momentum, to zero. We argue that the D1-D5-charged black ring, lifted to six dimensions, describes the thermal excitation of a supersymmetric D1-D5 supertube, which is in the same U-duality class as the D0-F1 supertube. We explain how the stringy microscopic description of the D1-D5 system distinguishes between a spherical black hole and a black ring with the same asymptotic charges, and therefore provides a (partial) resolution of the non-uniqueness of black holes in five dimensions.