On Black Hole Stability in Critical Gravities

We consider extended cosmological gravities with Ricci tensor and scalar squared terms in diverse dimensions. These theories admit solutions of Einstein metrics, including the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini AdS black holes, whose mass and entropy vanish at the critical point. We perform linearized analysis around the black holes and show that in general the spectrum consists of the usual spin-2 massless and ghost massive modes. We demonstrate that there is no exponentially-growing tachyon mode in the black holes. At the critical point, the massless spin-2 modes have zero energy whilst the massive spin-2 modes are replaced by the log modes. There always exist certain linear combination of massless and log modes that has negative energy. Thus the stability of the black holes requires that the log modes to be truncated out by the boundary condition.Comment: 16 pages, minor corrections, further comments and references adde

General Kerr-NUT-AdS Metrics in All Dimensions

The Kerr-AdS metric in dimension D has cohomogeneity [D/2]; the metric components depend on the radial coordinate r and [D/2] latitude variables \mu_i that are subject to the constraint \sum_i \mu_i^2=1. We find a coordinate reparameterisation in which the \mu_i variables are replaced by [D/2]-1 unconstrained coordinates y_\alpha, and having the remarkable property that the Kerr-AdS metric becomes diagonal in the coordinate differentials dy_\alpha. The coordinates r and y_\alpha now appear in a very symmetrical way in the metric, leading to an immediate generalisation in which we can introduce [D/2]-1 NUT parameters. We find that (D-5)/2 are non-trivial in odd dimensions, whilst (D-2)/2 are non-trivial in even dimensions. This gives the most general Kerr-NUT-AdS metric in $D$ dimensions. We find that in all dimensions D\ge4 there exist discrete symmetries that involve inverting a rotation parameter through the AdS radius. These symmetries imply that Kerr-NUT-AdS metrics with over-rotating parameters are equivalent to under-rotating metrics. We also consider the BPS limit of the Kerr-NUT-AdS metrics, and thereby obtain, in odd dimensions and after Euclideanisation, new families of Einstein-Sasaki metrics.Comment: Latex, 24 pages, minor typos correcte

A Killing tensor for higher dimensional Kerr-AdS black holes with NUT charge

In this paper, we study the recently discovered family of higher dimensional Kerr-AdS black holes with an extra NUT-like parameter. We show that the inverse metric is additively separable after multiplication by a simple function. This allows us to separate the Hamilton-Jacobi equation, showing that geodesic motion is integrable on this background. The separation of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation is intimately linked to the existence of an irreducible Killing tensor, which provides an extra constant of motion. We also demonstrate that the Klein-Gordon equation for this background is separable.Comment: LaTeX, 14 pages. v2: Typo corrected and equation added. v3: Reference added, introduction expanded, published versio

Mass of Rotating Black Holes in Gauged Supergravities

The masses of several recently-constructed rotating black holes in gauged supergravities, including the general such solution in minimal gauged supergravity in five dimensions, have until now been calculated only by integrating the first law of thermodynamics. In some respects it is more satisfactory to have a calculation of the mass that is based directly upon the integration of a conserved quantity derived from a symmetry principal. In this paper, we evaluate the masses for the newly-discovered rotating black holes using the conformal definition of Ashtekar, Magnon and Das (AMD), and show that the results agree with the earlier thermodynamic calculations. We also consider the Abbott-Deser (AD) approach, and show that this yields an identical answer for the mass of the general rotating black hole in five-dimensional minimal gauged supergravity. In other cases we encounter discrepancies when applying the AD procedure. We attribute these to ambiguities or pathologies of the chosen decomposition into background AdS metric plus deviations when scalar fields are present. The AMD approach, involving no decomposition into background plus deviation, is not subject to such complications. Finally, we also calculate the Euclidean action for the five-dimensional solution in minimal gauged supergravity, showing that it is consistent with the quantum statistical relation.Comment: Typos corrected and references update

Kerr-Schild Structure and Harmonic 2-forms on (A)dS-Kerr-NUT Metrics

We demonstrate that the general (A)dS-Kerr-NUT solutions in D dimensions with ([D/2], [(D+1)/2]) signature admit [D/2] linearly-independent, mutually-orthogonal and affinely-parameterised null geodesic congruences. This enables us to write the metrics in a multi-Kerr-Schild form, where the mass and all of the NUT parameters enter the metrics linearly. In the case of D=2n, we also obtain n harmonic 2-forms, which can be viewed as charged (A)dS-Kerr-NUT solution at the linear level of small-charge expansion, for the higher-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell theories. In the BPS limit, these 2-forms reduce to n-1 linearly-independent ones, whilst the resulting Calabi-Yau metric acquires a Kahler 2-form, leaving the total number the same.Comment: Latex, 11 pages, references adde

f(R) Theories of Supergravities and Pseudo-supergravities

We present f(R) theories of ten-dimensional supergravities, including the fermionic sector up to the quadratic order in fermion fields. They are obtained by performing the conformal scaling on the usual supergravities to the f(R) frame in which the dilaton becomes an auxiliary field and can be integrated out. The f(R) frame coincides with that of M-theory, D2-branes or NS-NS 5-branes. We study various BPS p-brane solutions and their near-horizon AdS \times sphere geometries in the context of the f(R) theories. We find that new solutions emerge with global structures that do not exist in the corresponding solutions of the original supergravity description. In lower dimensions, We construct the f(R) theory of N=2, D=5 gauged supergravity with a vector multiplet, and that for the four-dimensional U(1)^4 gauged theory with three vector fields set equal. We find that some previously-known BPS singular "superstars" become wormholes in the f(R) theories. We also construct a large class of f(R) (gauged) pseudo-supergravities. In addition we show that the breathing mode in the Kaluza-Klein reduction of Gauss-Bonnet gravity on S^1 is an auxiliary field and can be integrated out.Comment: Latex, 46 page

Separability and Killing Tensors in Kerr-Taub-NUT-de Sitter Metrics in Higher Dimensions

A generalisation of the four-dimensional Kerr-de Sitter metrics to include a NUT charge is well known, and is included within a class of metrics obtained by Plebanski. In this paper, we study a related class of Kerr-Taub-NUT-de Sitter metrics in arbitrary dimensions D \ge 6, which contain three non-trivial continuous parameters, namely the mass, the NUT charge, and a (single) angular momentum. We demonstrate the separability of the Hamilton-Jacobi and wave equations, we construct a closely-related rank-2 Staeckel-Killing tensor, and we show how the metrics can be written in a double Kerr-Schild form. Our results encompass the case of the Kerr-de Sitter metrics in arbitrary dimension, with all but one rotation parameter vanishing. Finally, we consider the real Euclidean-signature continuations of the metrics, and show how in a limit they give rise to certain recently-obtained complete non-singular compact Einstein manifolds.Comment: Author added, title changed, references added, focus of paper changed to Killing tensors and separability. Latex, 13 page