Counting Dyons in N=8 String Theory

The known BPS dyon black hole solutions of the N=4 heterotic string in four dimensions with non-zero angular momentum all have naked singularities. We show that it is possible to modify a certain class of these solutions by the addition of massive Kaluza-Klein fields in such a way that the solutions decompactify near the core to five-dimensional black hole solutions with regular event horizons. We argue that the degeneracy of the four-dimensional BPS dyon states is given, for...

Motivated by recent advances in Donaldson-Thomas theory, four-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=4$ string-string duality is examined in a reduced rank theory on a less studied BPS sector. In particular we identify candidate partition functions of "untwisted" quarter-BPS dyons in the heterotic $\mathbb{Z}_2$ CHL model by studying the associated chiral genus two partition function, based on the M-theory lift of string webs argument by Dabholkar and Gaiotto. This yields meromorphic Siege...

We examine the recently proposed relations between black hole entropy and the topological string in the context of type II/heterotic string dual models. We consider the degeneracies of perturbative heterotic BPS states. In several examples with N=4 and N=2 supersymmetry, we show that the macroscopic degeneracy of small black holes agrees to all orders with the microscopic degeneracy, but misses non-perturbative corrections which are computable on the heterotic side. Using the...

We derive the wall crossing formula for the decay of a quarter BPS dyon into a pair of half-BPS dyons by analyzing the quantum dynamics of multi-centered black holes in N=4 supersymmetric string theories. Our analysis encompasses the cases where the final decay products are non-primitive dyons. The results are in agreement with the microscopic formula for the dyon spectrum in the special case of heterotic string theory on T^6.

We compare the logarithm of the degeneracy of BPS saturated elementary string states and the string modified Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of the corresponding black holes in N=2 supersymmetric heterotic string compactification to four dimensions. As in the case of N=4 supersymmetric theory, the two results match up to an overall undetermined numerical factor. We also show that this undetermined numerical constant is identical in the N=2 and N=4 supersymmetric theories, therby s...

In this paper we construct the BPS black hole generating solution of toroidally compactified string (and M) theory, giving for it both the macroscopic and microscopic description. Choosing a proper U-duality gauge the latter will be given by a bound state made solely of D-branes. The axionic nature of the supergravity solution will be directly related to non-trivial angles between the constituent D-branes (type IIB configuration) or, in a T-dual gauge, to the presence of magn...

In string theory, black holes can be made from brane systems that are partially delocalized in string theory's extra dimensions. It is expected that they correspond to an ensemble of pure, horizonless microstates sourced by localized versions of this brane system. This thesis aims at studying the relationship between supersymmetric black holes and their microstates. In particular, we apply a concept called local supersymmetry enhancement to 1/4-BPS and 1/8-BPS systems that co...

In the context of string theory, it is possible to explain the microscopic origin of the entropy of certain black holes in terms of D-brane systems. To date, most of the cases studied in detail refer to extremal (supersymmetric) or near-extremal black holes. In this work we propose a microscopic model for certain black branes (extended versions of black holes) which would apply to cases arbitrarily far from extremality, including the Schwarzschild case. The model is based on ...

The statistical mechanics of black holes arbitrarily far from extremality is modeled by a gas of weakly interacting strings. As an effective low energy description of black holes the model provides a number of highly non-trivial consistency checks and predictions. Speculations on a fundamental origin of the model suggest surprising simplifications in non-perturbative string theory, even in the absence of supersymmetry.

In a previous paper we had proposed a specific route to relating the entropy of two charge black holes to the degeneracy of elementary string states in N=4 supersymmetric heterotic string theory in four dimensions. For toroidal compactification this proposal works correctly to all orders in a power series expansion in inverse charges provided we take into account the corrections to the black hole entropy formula due to holomorphic anomaly. In this paper we demonstrate that si...