Black Hole Entropy Function and the Attractor Mechanism in Higher Derivative Gravity

We study extremal black hole solutions in D dimensions with near horizon geometry AdS_2\times S^{D-2} in higher derivative gravity coupled to other scalar, vector and anti-symmetric tensor fields. We define an entropy function by integrating the Lagrangian density over S^{D-2} for a general AdS_2\times S^{D-2} background, taking the Legendre transform of the resulting function with respect to the parameters labelling the electric fields, and multiplying the result by a factor of 2\pi. We show that the values of the scalar fields at the horizon as well as the sizes of AdS_2 and S^{D-2} are determined by extremizing this entropy function with respect to the corresponding parameters, and the entropy of the black hole is given by the value of the entropy function at this extremum. Our analysis relies on the analysis of the equations of motion and does not directly make use of supersymmetry or specific structure of the higher derivative terms.Comment: LaTeX file, 12page

Solitons on compact and noncompact spaces in large noncommutativity

We study solutions at the minima of scalar field potentials for Moyal spaces and torii in the large non-commutativity and interprete these solitons in terms of non-BPS D-branes of string theory. We derive a mass spectrum formula linking different D-branes together on quantum torii and suggest that it describes general systems of D-brane bound states extending the D2-D0 one. Then we propose a shape for the effective potential approaching these quasi-stable bound states. We give the gauge symmetries of these systems of branes and show that they depend on the quantum torii representations.Comment: 25 pages, Latex, 1 figure (use epsfig.sty), corrected formul

On the dyon partition function in N=2 theories

We study the entropy function of two N =2 string compactifications obtained as freely acting orbifolds of N=4 theories : the STU model and the FHSV model. The Gauss-Bonnet term for these compactifications is known precisely. We apply the entropy function formalism including the contribution of this four derivative term and evaluate the entropy of dyons to the first subleading order in charges for these models. We then propose a partition function involving the product of three Siegel modular forms of weight zero which reproduces the degeneracy of dyonic black holes in the STU model to the first subleading order in charges. The proposal is invariant under all the duality symmetries of the STU model. For the FHSV model we write down an approximate partition function involving a Siegel modular form of weight four which captures the entropy of dyons in the FHSV model in the limit when electric charges are much larger than magnetic charges.Comment: 48 page

Fundamental Strings in Open String Theory at the Tachyonic Vacuum

We show that the world-volume theory on a D-p-brane at the tachyonic vacuum has solitonic string solutions whose dynamics is governed by the Nambu-Goto action of a string moving in (25+1) dimensional space-time. This provides strong evidence for the conjecture that at this vacuum the full (25+1) dimensional Poincare invariance is restored. We also use this result to argue that the open string field theory at the tachyonic vacuum must contain closed string excitations.Comment: LaTeX file, 16 pages, references and clarification adde

Cosmological Solution from D-brane motion in NS5-Branes background

We study dynamics of a D3-brane propagating in the vicinity of k coincident NS5 branes. We show that when $g_s$ is small, there exists a regime in which dynamics of the D-brane is governed by Dirac-Born-Infeld action while higher order derivative in the expansion can not be neglected. This leads to a restriction on how fast scalar field may roll. We analyze the motion of a rolling scalar field in this regime, and extend the analysis to cosmological systems obtained by coupling this type of field theory to four dimensinal gravity. It also leads to some FRW cosmologies, some of which are related to those obtained with tachyon matter.Comment: 15 pages, To appear in International Journal of Modern Physics

Non-Supersymmetric Attractors in R2R^2 Gravities

We investigate the attractor mechanism for spherically symmetric extremal black holes in a theory of general $R^2$ gravity in 4-dimensions, coupled to gauge fields and moduli fields. For the general $R^2$ theory, we look for solutions which are analytic near the horizon, show that they exist and enjoy the attractor behavior. The attractor point is determined by extremization of an effective potential at the horizon. This analysis includes the backreaction and supports the validity of non-supersymmetric attractors in the presence of higher derivative interactions. To include a wider class of solutions, we continue our analysis for the specific case of a Gauss-Bonnet theory which is non-topological, due to the coupling of Gauss-Bonnet terms to the moduli fields. We find that the regularity of moduli fields at the horizon is sufficient for attractor behavior. For the non-analytic sector, this regularity condition in turns implies the minimality of the effective potential at the attractor point.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figure