Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

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

Henriette Elvang, Roberto Emparan

TL;DR

This paper presents a concrete string-theoretic construction of a five-dimensional spinning black ring carrying D1-D5 and momentum charges, revealing that three-charge rings harbor closed timelike curves unless the momentum is set to zero. By uplifting to six dimensions, the three-charge ring is interpreted as a thermal excitation of a D1-D5 supertube, linking black rings to supersymmetric tube-like configurations via U-duality. The authors show that the microscopic D1-D5 description distinguishes between black holes and rings with the same asymptotic charges, offering a partial resolution to the five-dimensional non-uniqueness problem. They also analyze the origin of pathologies from KK-monopole tubes, derive extremal limits, and discuss how near-extremal rings map to thermally excited supertubes, emphasizing the role of topology and microstates in black hole physics.

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.

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

TL;DR

This paper presents a concrete string-theoretic construction of a five-dimensional spinning black ring carrying D1-D5 and momentum charges, revealing that three-charge rings harbor closed timelike curves unless the momentum is set to zero. By uplifting to six dimensions, the three-charge ring is interpreted as a thermal excitation of a D1-D5 supertube, linking black rings to supersymmetric tube-like configurations via U-duality. The authors show that the microscopic D1-D5 description distinguishes between black holes and rings with the same asymptotic charges, offering a partial resolution to the five-dimensional non-uniqueness problem. They also analyze the origin of pathologies from KK-monopole tubes, derive extremal limits, and discuss how near-extremal rings map to thermally excited supertubes, emphasizing the role of topology and microstates in black hole physics.

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.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 10 sections, 76 equations, 1 figure.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Neutral black ring
  3. Charging up the ring
  4. Physical parameters
  5. Closed Timelike Curves, and Kaluza-Klein-monopole tube
  6. Extremal limit
  7. Microscopic view: How strings tell a ball from a donut
  8. Discussion
  9. Towards the three-charge solution
  10. BMPV black hole as an extremal limit

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: String theory interpretation of the spinning D1-D5 spherical black hole (a) and black ring (b). The vertical direction corresponds to the compactified sixth dimension, $z$, of the D1-D5 intersection. The wavy excitations up and down it are left- and right-moving open strings attached to the D1-D5 bound state. (a): In the spherical black hole, the angular momentum is carried by the polarization of (equal numbers of) left and right movers. When the left and right movers are turned off, the spin disappears. (b): The D1-D5 black ring is a tubular configuration where the angular momentum is due to the rotation around the tube of strings of the D1-D5 system. The effect of the left and right movers is only to excite the system above the BPS supertube ground state, so they can be switched off while keeping the angular momentum finite.