Horizons and the Thermal Harmonic Oscillator

We show that two-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime (AdS_2) can be put in correspondence, holographically, both with the harmonic oscillator and the free particle. When AdS_2 has an horizon the corresponding mechanical system is a thermal harmonic oscillator at temperature given by the Hawking temperature of the horizon.Comment: Content changed, title slightly modifie

Instability of the R^3\times S^1 vacuum in low-energy effective string theory

We present and discuss an euclidean solution of the low-energy effective string action that can be interpreded as a semiclassical decay process of the ground state of the theory.Comment: 9 pages, plain-tex file, 2 figures available upon reques

The Cardy-Verlinde formula for 2D gravity

We discuss the different bounds on entropy in the context of two-dimensional cosmology. We show that in order to obtain well definite bounds one has to use the scale symmetry of the gravitational theory. We then extend the recently found relation between the Friedmann equation and the Cardy formula to the case of two dimensions. In particular, we find that in two dimensions this relation requires that the central charge c of the conformal field theory is given in terms of the Newton constant G of the gravitational theory by c=6/G.Comment: 14 pages, Latex file. v2: reference adde

Two-dimensional dS/CFT correspondence

We investigate de Sitter/conformal field theory (dS/CFT) correspondence in two dimensions. We define the conserved mass of de Sitter spacetime and formulate the correspondence along the lines of anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory duality. Asymptotic symmetry group, mass, and central charge of de Sitter spacetime are equal to those of anti-de Sitter spacetime. The entropy of two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime is evaluated by applying Cardy formula. We calculate the boundary correlators induced by the propagation of the dilaton in two-dimensional de Sitter space. Although the dilaton is a tachyonic perturbation in the bulk, boundary conformal correlators have positive dimension.Comment: 18 pages, Latex fil

Dilatonic black holes in a S-duality model

We find exact charged black hole solutions of a string effective action that is invariant under S-duality transformations. These black hole solutions have the same causal structure as the Reissner-Nordstrom (RN) solutions. They reduce to the RN solutions for self-dual configurations of the dilaton and to the Garfinkle-Horowitz-Strominger (GHS) solution in the weak (or strong) coupling regime. Using the purely magnetic solutions of the S-duality model we also generate dyonic black hole solutions of the GHS model, which have the causal structure of the RN solutions.Comment: 10 pages, Plain-Tex, no figure

Duality of Lorentzian and Euclidean black holes in two-dimensional string-generated models

We discuss the properties of lorentzian and euclidean black hole solutions of a generalized 2-dim dilaton-gravity action containing a modulus field, which arises from the compactification of heterotic string models. The duality symmetries of these solutions are also investigated.Comment: 10 pages plain Tex, 4 figures avalaible upon request from authors, INFNCA-TH-94-

Dilatonic black holes in theories with moduli fields

We discuss the low-energy effective string theory when moduli of the compactified manifold are present. Assuming a nontrivial coupling of the moduli to the Maxwell tensor, we find a class of regular black hole solutions. Both the thermodynamical and the geometrical structure of these solutions are discussedComment: 8 page

Reply Comment on "Entropy of 2D black holes from counting microstates"

We show that the arguments proposed by Park and Yee against our recent derivation of the statistical entropy of 2D black holes do not apply to the case under considerationComment: 3 pages, LaTex file, reply to comment hep-th/991021

Holographic Central Charge for 2-Dimensional de Sitter Space

Recently, investigations have begun into a holographic duality for two-dimensional de Sitter space. In this paper, we evaluate the associated central charge, using a modified version of the canonical Hamiltonian method that was first advocated by Catelani {\it et al}. Our computation agrees with that of a prior work (Cadoni {\it et al}), but we argue that the method used here is, perhaps, aesthetically preferable on holographic grounds. We also confirm an agreement between the Cardy and thermodynamic entropy, thus providing further support for the conjectured two-dimensional de Sitter/conformal field theory correspondence.Comment: 19 pages, Latex; discussion (Section 4) and references adde

Black Hole fragmentation and holography

We discuss the entropy change due to fragmentation for black hole solutions in various dimensions. We find three different types of behavior. The entropy may decrease, increase or have a mixed behavior, characterized by the presence of a threshold mass. For two-dimensional (2D) black holes we give a complete characterization of the entropy behavior under fragmentation, in the form of sufficient conditions imposed on the function J, which defines the 2D gravitational model. We compare the behavior of the gravitational solutions with that of free field theories in d dimensions. This excludes the possibility of finding a gravity/field theory realization of the holographic principle for a broad class of solutions, including asymptotically flat black holes. We find that the most natural candidates for holographic duals of the black hole solutions with mixed behavior are field theories with a mass gap. We also discuss the possibility of formulating entropy bounds that make reference only to the energy of a system.Comment: 7 pages, no figure