Lectures on Superconformal Quantum Mechanics and Multi-Black Hole Moduli Spaces

Quantum mechanics on the moduli space of N supersymmetric Reissner-Nordstrom black holes is shown to admit 4 supersymmetries using an unconventional supermultiplet which contains 3N bosons and 4N fermions. A near-horizon limit is found in which the quantum mechanics of widely separated black holes decouples from that of strongly-interacting, near-coincident black holes. This near-horizon theory is shown to have an enhanced D(2,1;0) superconformal symmetry. The bosonic symmetr...

We survey the salient features and problems of conformal and superconformal mechanics and portray some of its developments over the past decade. Both classical and quantum issues of single- and multiparticle systems are covered.

The quantum mechanics of N slowly-moving charged BPS black holes in five-dimensional ${\cal N}=1$ supergravity is considered. The moduli space metric of the N black holes is derived and shown to admit 4 supersymmetries. A near-horizon limit is found in which the dynamics of widely separated black holes decouples from that of strongly-interacting, near-coincident black holes. This decoupling suggests that the quantum states supported in the near-horizon moduli space can be int...

These notes are based on lectures given at the Erwin-Schrodinger Insitut in Vienna in 2006/07 and at the 2007 School on Attractor Mechanism in Frascati. Lecture I: special geometry from the superconformal point of view. Lecture II: black hole attractor mechanism, its underlying variational principle, and black hole partition functions. Lecture III: large and small BPS black holes in N=4 supergravity. Lecture IV: state counting for N=4 string compactifications. Appendix A: spe...

We discuss quantum mechanics in the moduli space consisting of two maximally charged dilaton black holes. The quantum mechanics of the two black hole system is similar to the one of DFF model, and this system has the $SL(2,R)$ conformal symmetry. Also, we discuss the bound states in this system.

The dynamics of a (super)particle near the horizon of an extreme Reissner-Nordstrom black hole is shown to be governed by an action that reduces to a (super)conformal mechanics model in the limit of large black hole mass.

These notes are an expanded version of lectures given at the Croatian School on Black Holes at Trpanj, June 21-25, 2010. The aim is to provide a practical introduction to quantum field theory in curved spacetime and related black hole physics, with AdS/CFT as the loose motivation.

We review the approach to quantum gravity based on supersymmetry, strings, and holography. This includes a survey of black holes in higher-dimensions, supersymmetry and supergravity, as well as string theory, black hole microstates, and the gauge/gravity duality. This presentation will appear as a chapter in "General Relativity and Gravitation: A Centennial Perspective", to be published by Cambridge University Press.

The motion of a particle near the Reissner-Nordstrom black hole horizon is described by conformal mechanics. In this paper we present an extended one-dimensional analysis of the N=4 superconformal mechanics coupled to n copies of N=8, d=1 vector supermultiplets. The constructed system possesses a special Kahler geometry in the scalar sector of the vector multiplets as well as an N=4 superconformal symmetry which is provided by a proper coupling to a dilaton superfield. The su...

We propose a universal expression for the moduli metric of a class of four- and five-dimensional black holes which preserve at least four supersymmetries. These include the black holes that are associated with various intersecting branes in ten and eleven dimensions, the electrically charged black holes of N=2 D=5 and N=2 D=4 supergravities with any number of vector multiplets, and dyonic black holes of N=2 D=4 supergravity. The moduli metric of electrically charged N=2 D=4 b...