Black hole thermodynamics, conformal couplings, and R^2 terms

Mariano Chernicoff (Facultad de Ciencias, UNAM)

Lovelock theory provides a tractable model of higher-curvature gravity in which several questions can be studied analytically. In this talk, I will present the thermodynamics of black holes in theories of gravity which include higher-curvature terms, U(1) gauge fields, and conformal couplings with matter fields in D dimensions. These charged black hole solutions exhibit a backreacting scalar field configuration that is regular everywhere outside and on the horizon, and may exist both in asymptotically flat and asymptotically Anti-de Sitter (AdS) spaces. If time permits, I will also discuss several interrelated properties of the theory, such as its duality symmetry under field redefinition and how it acts on black holes solutions.