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# Collapse of the charge ordering state at high magnetic fields in the rare-earth manganite, Pr0.63Ca0.37MnO3

## I Introduction

Thermodynamic and transport properties of rare-earth manganites with the general formula R1-xAxMnO3 (R: a trivalent rare-earth ion and A: a divalent alkaline-earth ion) have attracted considerable current interest. i2 ; i3  For certain values of x, the Mn3+ and Mn4+ order in the lattice giving rise to what is called charge ordering. The CO insulating (COI) state can be destabilized by various perturbations such as temperature, magnetic field, electric field and radiation to a ferromagnetic metallic (FMM) or a charge disordered and paramagnetic insulating (PI) state d1 ; d2 ; d3 ; d4 ; Ayanrt ; prna .

Of interest to us is the observation that an applied magnetic field can destabilize the charge-ordered state leading to a ferromagnetic metallic state. This phenomenon has been studied in detail by using various techniques. Ayanrt ; Teresa ; Hardy ; Smol  It appears that there is a minimum threshold field $`\mu _0H_{th}`$ which is needed to melt the CO state to a FMM phase below $`T_{CO}`$. $`\mu _0H_{th}`$ depends on a number of factors like the radius of the A site cation, $`<r_A>`$ (equivalently the bandwidth), and deviation from the x=0.5 composition which has equal amount of carriers and holes. $`\mu _0H_{th}`$ decreases as $`<r_A>`$ increases and we move away from the x=0.5 filling i3 . In our present investigation we explore whether there is an upper field $`\mu _0H^{}`$ ($`\mu _0H^{}>\mu _0H_{th}`$) beyond which the CO transition cannot occur at any temperature (i.e., the temperature $`T_{CO}`$ ceases to exist). We then investigate the region of phase diagram close to $`\mu _0H^{}`$ and beyond. We note that on comparison of various data available in different CO systems it appears that there is a likelihood of such an upper field as $`\mu _0H^{}`$ Ayanrt ; Teresa ; Hardy ; Smol . The present investigation goes beyond these likely evidences and establishes concretely existence of such a field.

The cartoon in figure 1 explains the issues that we are probing in this investigation. The cartoon is representative of the currently accepted ($`T\mu _0H`$) plane phase diagram seen in manganites such as Pr1-xCaxMnO3, showing the onset of CO transition from a paramagnetic insulating (PI) that is charge disordered state. The CO transition occurs at zero field at the temperature $`T_{CO}`$, marked by point A. On the application of a magnetic field, $`T_{CO}`$ generally decreases and follows the line AB. Thus PI $``$ COI transition occurs when the line AB is crossed. However, for $`\mu _0H>`$ $`\mu _0H_{th}`$, the COI state melts to FMM state at $`T<T_{CO}`$, as mentioned before. The melting of the COI state to the FMM state occurs along the line BC which also shows hysteresis and often strong time dependent behavior Anane . The low temperature COI $``$ FMM transition occurs on crossing line BC. The region bounded by ABC is a region of ”mixed phase” where two phases can co-exist. The transition across the line AB has a clear thermodynamic signature and is associated with a change in entropy Ayansph . In the case of Pr0.63Ca0.37MnO3 ($`T_{CO}`$ $``$ 235K), the entropy removed at $`T_{CO}`$ at zero magnetic field is $``$ 1.6J/molK as found from direct measurements of specific heat Ayansph . A good part of the entropy change is released as latent heat and the transition is believed to be of first order. There is no large thermodynamic signature to the transition across the line CB when the COI melts in a magnetic field, although the existence of hysteresis (marked by hatches) as well as the suddenness of the transition is often interpreted as a first order transition. Whatever be the case, there is very little change in the specific heat as well as entropy across the line BC. The field $`\mu _0`$H refers to the point B where the two lines meet at temperature $`T^{}`$. The above phase-diagram though known and well established is presented here to put this investigation in proper perspective.

The present investigation is primarily focused on the region around the point B ($`\mu _0H^{},T^{}`$). The primary motivation is to explore the following issues:

1. The ($`\mu _0HT`$) phase diagram as depicted in figure 1 is expected to have more features. This can be illustrated as follows. If we cool down following path 1, we start from a PI phase at point P, cross the boundaries AB and BC and terminate in a FMM phase at point S. But if we follow the path 2 (PQRS), we can go from P (PI phase) to S (FMM phase) without any phase transition or cross-over region. This implies that somewhere along path 2 there should be a boundary demarcating two phases or a cross-over. This should occur for $`\mu _0H>`$ $`\mu _0H^{}`$. We note that this issue has not been raised in previous publications in this field in the context of Pr0.63Ca0.37MnO3, although the phase diagram in this field region where the CO transition ceases to exist has been discussed in a related though different system Pr0.75Na0.25MnO3 which we will discuss in appropriate place.
2. Our previous studies of specific heat at $`\mu _0H`$ = 0 and $`\mu _0H`$ = 8T have shown that in the transition across the line AB, there is a finite entropy change ($`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ $``$ 0) Ayansph . However, there is a negligible change is entropy as one crosses the line CB. One would therefore expect that the nature of the transition changes as one goes along the line AB. We explore the evolution of $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ as we approach the point B. Does $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ 0 as the point B is approached?
3. At fields lower than $`\mu _0H^{}`$, the high temperature PI phase makes a transition to the COI phase at $`T_{CO}`$ which eventually melts at an even lower temperature in a magnetic field, giving rise to the FMM phase. Is there a change associated with the PI phase in a high enough magnetic field? This particular aspect has also not been explicitly discussed/observed before although certain past studies show likely signs of such metallic phases prb1996 .

We investigate the above issues in a single crystal of Pr0.63Ca0.37MnO3 by using both thermodynamic (specific heat) and transport measurements in a magnetic field upto 12T. The results of the investigation (discussed in detail in subsequent sections) establish

1. As we move along the line AB, as $`TT^{}`$ and $`\mu _0H`$ $`\mu _0H^{}`$, $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ $``$ 0. Beyond this field, CO does not exist at any temperature. The $`T_{CO}`$ itself decreases as H increases. The fact that no CO transition takes place when $`\mathrm{\Delta }S0`$ means that there is an essential role of entropy in stabilizing the CO state.
2. In the temperature range ($`260K>T>T_{CO}(H)`$), the PI phase crosses over to a metallic phase for a certain magnetic field. We designate this regime as a metallic regime (M). In this field and temperature regime, the CO transition occurs from a metallic phase, instead of a insulating phase. This gives us a new line of cross-over in the ($`T\mu _0H`$) phase diagram. Above 260K the resistivity reaches a rather field insensitive region.
3. For fields $`\mu _0H>\mu _0H^{}`$ (which is the limit of stability of CO transition) there appears to be the presence of a cross-over region (or phase transition) within the metallic phase as it is cooled where long range ferromagnetic order sets in (FMM) at $`T`$ 220K.

To our knowledge, the studies reported by us are new and they make the qualitative phase diagram in figure 1 richer and more complete, particularly in the high field region.

## II Experimental techniques

### II.1 Sample

The sample we have chosen for the present investigation Pr0.63Ca0.37MnO3 is a well characterized single crystal, with a well-defined CO transition at $`T_{CO}`$ $``$ 235K. The crystal has been grown by float-zone technique using a mirror furnace. This material has been extensively investigated by us. Previously reported Ayansph  specific heat measurements on this sample from our group showed that the CO transition was most likely first order in nature and the entropy change involved in the transition had been calculated. We note that in the past investigation from our group Ayansph  the measurements were not done to high enough magnetic field so that one can reach the region ($`T^{},H^{}`$) and beyond. As a result observations made in the present paper could not be made. In particular we could not observe $`\mathrm{\Delta }S0`$. Also no concrete connection to transport studies at high fields had been established.

### II.2 Measurement of Specific heat in magnetic field

The specific heat was measured using the technique of continuous cooling calorimetry Raj . This is distinct from our studies in reference Ayansph  where data were taken by adiabatic calorimetry. The temperature range in which the calorimeter operates is from 100K-400K (this is the temperature range in which the transitions occur). The specific heat in this temperature region was measured in a field upto 10T. The calorimeter can measure heat capacity of very small samples ( mass $``$ mg. The addenda heat capacity is $`<`$ 20 mJ/K at room temperature.

In this method, the sample temperature is recorded as a function of time as the sample (warmed upto a predetermined temperature by a heater) cools continuously, losing heat to the base through a heat link whose characteristics are experimentally determined. The cooling curve is determined by the equation

$$C(T)\frac{dT}{dt}(T)=P_{leak}(T)$$
(1)
where $`P_{leak}(T)`$ is the power leaked to the bath ($`P_{leak}(T)`$ is experimentally determined and has both the conduction and radiation contributions). A platinum film on the substrate works as both a heater and thermometer. The specific heat and latent heat at a transition are deduced from the cooling curve - by determining $`dT/dt(T)`$ and the thermal link characteristics. The data obtained by this method matches with that obtained by reference Ayansph  which was taken by adiabatic calorimetry which acquires data during heating. There are some differences in the transition region that we discuss. This difference shows up in the transition region as a small change in the width of the transition as well as height of the heat capacity peak. This of course depends on the rate at which temperature changes in this region. However, this does not have much effect when we integrate the excess heat capacity at transition to find entropy. The uncertainty in entropy due to the experimental contributions are limited to within 10$`\%`$.

### II.3 Measurement of resistivity in steady and pulsed magnetic fields

We measured the resistivity using a standard four probe method. For making the contacts, four gold contact pads were evaporated on the sample and the contacts to the sample were subsequently made by soldering 40 $`\mu `$m copper wires using Ag-In solder. Most of the MR data were taken by a superconducting solenoid producing steady field upto 12T. For comparison, we have also used a pulsed magnet to make the resistivity measurements. The pulsed field with $`\mu _0`$Hpeak = 14T has a fall time 20msec. The data acquisition was done with a 12 bit 20MHz card. In case of the superconducting magnet the data were taken by fixing the field and varying the temperature. In case of the pulsed magnet it was field scans at fixed temperatures. Since we are in a regime where there is no noticeable hysteresis effects both the methods should lead to the same result provided the field and temperature calibration has the same traceability. We find that the data taken by the steady field and the pulsed field are close within experimental uncertainty. In the results presented we do not distinguish the data taken by the two methods and present them together.

## III Results

The results are presented in three sub-sections. In the first sub-section, we discuss the specific heat as a function of temperature at different magnetic fields. The second sub-section contains results of the entropy changes at the CO transition at different fields. Finally, we present the results obtained from resistance measurements at different fields and temperatures.

### III.1 Specific heat as a function of temperature and magnetic field

A waterfall plot of specific heat as a function of temperature at different magnetic fields is shown in figure 2 (The data are offset for clarity). In zero field, the sample shows a first order CO transition at $`T_{CO}`$ = 235K and a small step at $``$ 165K which is the Neel temperature $`T_N`$. The zero field specific heat data are shown as inset in figure 2 for an extended temperature scale. In the specific heat data with increasing magnetic field, the $`T_{CO}`$ shifts to lower temperatures. A plot of $`T_{CO}`$ as a function of the field is shown in figure 3. We see that a field of 10T shifts the $`T_{CO}`$ by as much as 20K. It can be seen from figure 3 that there are two regions. For $`\mu _0H<`$ 6T, the change in $`T_{CO}`$ is gradual while for $`\mu _0H>`$ 6T, it is rather rapid. Close to 10T we see the transition as just a sharp line and essentially no width as limited by the experimental set up. We show below that with increasing field, we ultimately reach a point where the entropy change at $`T_{CO}`$ vanishes.

### III.2 Entropy change at $`T_{CO}`$

It has been established by calorimetric investigations that there is a change in entropy $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ at the charge ordering transition. In zero field, $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ $``$ 1.6J/molK Ayansph . The earlier data were obtained by conventional adiabatic calorimetry wherein the data are taken while heating while the present data were taken by continuous cooling calorimetry wherein the data are taken during cooling. Comparing the peak height or width taken by these two completely different methods may be difficult as there is an inherent error present in determining the peak width in first order transitions. What can be compared is the entropy change at the transition $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ as this is the area under the peak in specific heat divided by the temperature. This $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ for both data match to within experimental uncertainties. For calculating the entropy change during the CO transition, a background lattice contribution has to be first subtracted out from the specific heat data. We define $`C_{exc}=CC_{lattice}`$. For estimation of $`C_{lattice}`$ we employ the procedure described in detail in reference Ayansph . The entropy change is calculated by numerically integrating $`C_{exc}/T`$ as $`S_{exc}`$ = $`_{200}^T(C_{exc}/T)𝑑T`$. The lower limit of integration (200K) is so chosen that $`C_{exc}`$ $``$ 0 for all $`\mu _0H`$ at this temperature. Figure 4 shows the $`S_{exc}`$ as a function of temperature near $`T_{CO}`$. To obtain the change in entropy $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ at the transition we linearly extrapolate the values of $`S_{exc}`$ above and below the transition and find the difference in the extrapolated values at the transition. By this procedure we obtain a $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ of $``$ 1.6J/molK at 0T. (Note that this procedure does introduce uncertainty in the absolute value of $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ which we estimate $``$ 10$`\%`$.)

A plot of the calculated $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ as a function of field is shown in figure 3. The decrease in $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ is small upto a field of 6T. Above this, the fall is very rapid. The important fact that we have established is that $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}0`$ as the field is increased. From our calorimetry data, we could clearly identify the point B as $`T^{}`$ $``$ 215K, $`\mu _0H^{}`$ $``$ 10.5T where $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}0`$. Our transport measurements showed that at $`\mu _0H^{}`$ the CO transition ceases to exist.

As pointed out earlier, no marked signature except a small feature is observable at low T as we cross the line CB. This becomes weaker as $`\mu _0H`$ increases. Thus vanishing of $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ as we move along the line AB is compatible with the fact that the two lines of transition meet at the point B where $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ $``$ 0. We point out that vanishing of the entropy $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ at a certain field is a new observation and we explain below that it is linked to the stability of the CO state.

### III.3 Resistivity and metal - insulator transition close to TCO at high fields

In this sub-section, we present the results of the resistivity ($`\rho `$) measurements. The important observation that we make is that close to $`T_{CO}`$ (T $`>`$ $`T_{CO}`$), the magnetic field induces a metallic behavior ($`d\rho /dT>0`$) for $`\mu _0H`$ greater than a certain field $`\mu _0H_\rho ^{}`$ $``$ 8.7T. For $`\mu _0H<\mu _0H_\rho ^{}<\mu _0H^{}`$, the CO transition occurs although it is from a metallic phase. This occurs over a narrow range of field and temperature. For $`\mu _0H>\mu _0H^{}`$, we find that there is a transition/cross-over to a metallic state and there is no signature of formation of an insulating state in resistivity. This establishes a close link between the calorimetry and transport data.

In figure 5 we show the $`\rho `$ vs $`T`$ plot at a few representative fields. The inset shows $`\rho `$ vs $`\mu _0H`$ at different temperatures close to $`T_{CO}`$. One can clearly see a strong negative magnetoresistance at high fields. For T $`<`$ 235K, the change in $`\rho `$ in a magnetic field is rather sharp. In this region $`T<T_{CO}`$, and the drop in $`\rho `$ is melting of CO state to FMM state. It can also be seen that for fields $`\mu _0H`$ $``$ 9T there is a temperature range where the resistivity is much like a metallic sample with $`d\rho /dT>`$ 0. This cross-over to a metallic behavior at high fields can be seen in figure 5. In the temperature regime $`T>T_{CO}`$ at low magnetic fields, $`\rho `$ has a negative temperature coefficient of resistivity $`d\rho /dT<0`$ which is characteristic of an insulator. As the magnetic field is increased, there is a gradual change in slope of $`\rho `$ vs $`T`$ curve. Beyond a field of $`\mu _0H_\rho ^{}`$ = 8.7T, $`\rho `$ develops a positive temperature coefficient of resistivity for $`T`$ close to $`T_{CO}`$. As it is cooled below $`T_{CO}`$, the CO transition takes place and $`d\rho /dT`$ changes sign. The occurance of the metallic state for field $`\mu _0H_\rho ^{}`$ may have its stability only over a limited temperature range. This is because for $`T>260K`$ $`d\rho /dT`$ gradually decreases and the resistivity becomes insensitive to field. It may be that at higher temperature $`\rho `$ joins a commom curve with rather small $`d\rho /dT`$. (Due to technical difficulties with the cryogen free magnet we cannot reach a temperature much higher than $`270K275K`$ with a field of 12T This prevented us to make a definitive statement at high field and high temperature region.) However, it is clear from the data (figure 5) that in this field regime the COI transition takes place on cooling from a metallic state, unlike the CO transition at lower field where it takes place from an insulating phase. In this context it is interesting to recall that in the manganite system like $`Nd_{0.5}Sr_{0.5}MnO_3`$, which has somewhat larger bandwidth i3 , the transition to COI state occurs from a metallic ferromagnetic state. In manganites with lower bandwidth the transition to COI state is always from an insulating state that is charge disordered.

To summarize, we find that the application of high magnetic fields causes significant changes in the material, particularly at $`TT_{CO}`$. This is in addition to the field induced suppression of CO at lower temperatures. A combination of the transport and the calorimetric measurements show that the COI state which is the ground state in zero field is thermodynamically unstable for $`\mu _0H>`$ $`\mu _0H^{}`$ and ceases to exist. For $`\mu _0H>`$ $`\mu _0H^{}`$ the COI state does not from at any T. There is a range of field 8.7T $`\mu _0H`$ 10.5T where $`d\rho /dT>`$ 0 for $`T>T_{CO}`$ so that the COI transition occurs from a metallic (M) phase. At higher field and low temperature this metallic phase becomes ferromagnetic although at higher ($`T>260K`$) the field induced metallic phase appears to give way to an insulating state.

## IV Discussion

In figure 6 we present the results of our experimental investigations in the form of a phase diagram. In the same figure, we show the phase diagram constructed from data of previous experiments by solid lines. The present experiments identify the new phases or cross-over curves. There are a number of issues in the phase diagram that need attention that have not been discussed before note1 .

As noted in our earlier publications, Ayansph  as we cross the line BC (see figure 1) there is a small thermodynamic signature of the transition with a heat release of $``$ 10J/mol. This is much smaller than the $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ observed at the CO transition as we cross the line AB. The vanishing of $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ at the point B is thus internally consistent. The COI and FMM phases separated by the line BC are expected to be close energetically (similar heat capacity), and they also have similar entropy. The high-temperature charge disordered insulating phase (PI) has a higher entropy that gets released as $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ as we cross AB. Vanishing of $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ as the point B is approached implies that the three phases (PI, FMM and COI) have the same entropy at point B. It appears that the first order transition across AB ceases at B. This also makes the point B a special point in the phase diagram.

For $`\mu _0H>\mu _0H^{}`$, the COI state ceases to exist. The COI phase, due to charge (and possibly orbital) ordering has a lower entropy in fields upto $`\mu _0H<`$ $`\mu _0H^{}`$. The release of entropy at $`T_{CO}`$ stabilizes this phase. The magnetic field destabilizes this state making $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ $``$ 0 as $`\mu _0H`$ $``$ $`\mu _0H^{}`$. In manganites with relatively broader bandwidths as in La1-xSrxMnO3 (x $``$ 0.3-0.5), one finds such a PMM phase above $`T_C`$ at zero field i3 . For most manganites, with smaller bandwidths as in La1-xCaxMnO3 and Pr1-xCaxMnO3, the high-temperature phase is an insulating phase. The observation of a field induced cross-over to a metallic phase ($`d\rho /dT>`$ 0) although in a narrow temperature range ($`260K>T>T_{CO}`$) is therefore an interesting phenomenon.

The insulating phase above $`T_{CO}`$, like other colossal magnetoresistive (CMR) systems is attributed to Jahn-Teller (JT) distortion. In the undoped parent compound such as PrMnO3 or LaMnO3, the high-temperature JT distortion can be co-operative in nature leading to orbital ordering. This leads to an insulating state in these samples. Hole-doping (by substitution of a bivalent cation in the rare-earth site) leads to a dilution of the co-operative JT and orbital ordering although the high-temperature insulating phase is retained. Past studies (using resonant X-ray scattering technique or neutron scattering technique neutscat ) have shown some degree of orbital or charge order above $`T_{CO}`$, albeit with a small correlation length. The suppression of the insulating phase at $`T>T_{CO}`$ , would mean that a high enough magnetic field can suppress these local ordering leading to a metallic state with $`d\rho /dT>`$ 0 ,although in a limited temperature range. An interesting possibility is that the magnetic field increases the width of the conduction band and thus suppress polaronic effects and local orbital ordering. It is possible to model the behavior as co-existance of two phases (both paramagnetic) one metallic and the other insulating. The application of a magnetic field increases the volume fraction of the metallic phase. The increase in volume fraction beyond a certain value leads to the cross-over to the metallic state. However,at high enough temperature the degree of spin ordering even at high field may not be large enough to cause any effect on the polaronic or local orbital ordering thus stabilizing the insulating state.The metallic and inulating phases are identified as a change in $`d\rho /dT`$, occurs when the magnetic field reduces the resistivity to about 20m$`\mathrm{\Omega }`$cm. Interestingly, this is the range of $`\rho `$ where a metal-insulator transition occurs in many perovskite oxides Arup95 .

The issue of magnetic transition at high fields (transition from the metallic to ferromagnetic metallic phase) is not very clear at this stage in the absence of high field magnetization data. We note that even at a field of 10T in the vicinity of 250K the ratio $`B/T`$ is not large enough to produce substantial spin alignment. (We are dealing with a S=3/2 system which is the core $`t_{2g}`$ spin). As a result the metallic phase that arises from the PI is likely to be paramagnetic. At low temperatures in a magnetic field the ground state is a ferromagnetic metallic phase. There appears to be some kind of transition/crossover as can be seen from the resistivity data at 12T in the vicinity of 215K. This being a transition in a magnetic field can be classified as a field induced ferromagnetic state. To sum up, we propose the scenario that in the vicinity of the phase diagram around the point ($`H^{},T^{}`$) and at higher temperatures, the magnetic field increases the bandwidth and this suppresses the polaronic nature of the transport and any local charge or orbital order. This lowers $`T_{CO}`$ and at high enough field no charge or orbital order forms leading to a metallic phase. At still higher field there is field induced ferromagnetic state as the sample is cooled.

In conclusion, using calorimetric and transport investigations, we have shown that beyond a certain magnetic field, the COI state becomes unstable at all T. The stability of the COI state is ensured by a finite $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$. When $`\mathrm{\Delta }S_{CO}`$ $``$ 0, on the application of a magnetic field the COI state becomes unstable.

## V Acknowledgment

AKR acknowledges financial support from DST (Government of India) for a sponsored project and KSN acknowledges CSIR for a fellowship.


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# Schwarzschild-anti de Sitter within an Isothermal Cavity: Thermodynamics, Phase Transitions and the Dirichlet Problem

## 1 Introduction

Following the proposal of the AdS/CFT correspondence  which connects string theory on asymptotically anti-de Sitter space to certain conformal field theories on its boundary, black holes in AdS space have received renewed attention. In particular, the Hawking-Page phase transition from hot anti-de Sitter (AdS) to Schwarzschild-AdS  has been shown by Witten  to correspond to a phase transition from the confining phase to the deconfining phase in the large $`N`$ limit of $`𝒩=4`$ Yang-Mills on the boundary of the AdS space. He argued that the strength of the conjecture is demonstrated by the existence of a holographic duality even at non-zero temperature where supersymmetry and conformal invariance are broken.

In the Euclidean picture the boundary at which the conformal field theory is defined is an $`S^1\times S^{n1}`$ which is a codimension-one slice of the Euclideanised AdS and Schwarzschild-AdS at radial infinity. However, one can consider a more general, and non-trivial, boundary by taking the $`S^1\times S^{n1}`$ at a finite radial distance so that the $`S^{n1}`$ is of finite volume (and assuming, initially, that the $`S^1`$-fibre has finite radius as well). Infinite volume for either or both of $`S^1`$ and $`S^{n1}`$ occur as limits. From the holographic point of view, such a finite boundary is relevant for understanding the stronger form of holography. Indeed a large literature exists where this has been considered in the context of the Randall-Saundrum type scenarios  and various related topics (see  for a review and references therein). A primary objective in such studies as in the infinite boundary limit mentioned above, is to understand the relationship between the geometries of the possible regular bulk solutions and the geometry of the given boundary. Such study falls under the purview of the classical Dirichlet boundary-value problem in Riemannian geometry (see below). Once the relationship between various bulk geometries and the boundary geometry are known, either qualitatively or quantitatively, one can explore the semi-classical implications using Euclidean path integral formulation. In particular, if the geometries of the bulk are known as functions of the boundary variables, one can find the classical action and other quantities of interest purely in terms of boundary data. In the example above, in which the boundary is at infinity, this can be done precisely for arbitrary dimensions. The meaningful boundary data then is the ratio of the two radii of the fibre and the base. However, when the boundary is brought at a finite distance this becomes rather non-trivial as we will see in this paper.

In the path integral formulation of Euclidean quantum gravity finite $`S^1\times S^{n1}`$ boundaries first appeared in the study of black holes in a “box”. The radii $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ of the $`S^1`$-fibre and $`S^{n1}`$-base (with the standard metrics on them) constitute the canonical boundary condition with the interpretation that the $`S^{n1}`$ cavity of radius $`\alpha `$ is immersed in an isothermal heat bath of temperature $`T=\frac{1}{2\pi \beta }`$. It was shown in  that within a finite $`S^2`$ cavity apart from hot flat space, classically there are two or no black-hole solutions depending on whether the temperature of the heat bath is above or below a certain value222Least the terminology be a source of confusion due to their connotations, the “cavity” here is the $`S^{n1}`$ base and is not the same as what we called the “boundary” in the Euclideanised picture which is an $`S^1\times S^{n1}`$.. This is true for any finite radius of the cavity. Of the two solutions, the larger one has a positive specific heat and the smaller one a negative specific heat. Hence, only the larger solution is locally thermodynamically stable. It is possible to find the masses of the two black holes as functions of the cavity radius and wall-temperature (i.e., in terms of $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ in the Euclidean picture). For sufficiently high temperature the larger mass solution has a more negative action than hot flat space and hence a stable black hole can nucleate from hot flat space in a thermodynamically consistent manner within a cavity of arbitrary radius. In the infinite-volume limit of the cavity only the smaller-mass solution with the negative specific heat survives. Therefore, only in a finite cavity is it possible to have a thermodynamically stable black hole solution for such boundary conditions. Recently these results have been generalized and discussed for higher dimensions in . However, in the case of a negative cosmological constant, stable Schwarzschild-AdSn+1 black holes are possible  and one is not required to introduce an isothermal finite cavity, at least for obtaining a stable solution. This perhaps explains the comparative lack of attention in the literature to the finite cavity case for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$ except the study made in  where this has been studied for four dimensions. There it is shown that for such boundary condition, there are two/no Schwarzschild-AdS4 solutions and always a AdS4 solution. Assuming that the standard area-law of black-hole entropy holds for such boundary conditions, there it was shown that the larger and the smaller black hole have positive and negative specific heats respectively as in the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ case. As the cosmological constant introduces a scale, it is not possible to find the masses in terms of the boundary variables, which was possible in the flat-space case for four dimensions , except in the limit of infinite cavity. In this paper we will be extending this picture to higher dimensions by providing a complete semi-classical treatment. In the classical side of the picture we will discuss solutions of bulk geometries in terms of boundary data, i.e., the two radii $`(\alpha ,\beta )`$ and will combine this with the semi-classical study to show that a phase transition occurs within the cavity for sufficiently high value of its wall-temperature. In the infinite cavity limit the analogue of the phase transition is the well-known Hawking-Page phase transition, in which case the phase transition is studied as functions of the Hawking temperature (or equivalently the horizon radius) of the black holes instead of the boundary variables (which is the only way to do this since the local temperature of any finite Schwarzschild-AdS redshifts to zero at infinity, unlike in the flat space case, see later). Such a study has not been done before for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$ for four or higher dimensions.

The goal of this paper is therefore twofold: to study possible black hole solutions as functions of the boundary geometry and to compute their on-shell actions, and explore which solutions dominate and under what conditions on the boundary variables. We will be as rigorous as possible in our treatment and obtain explicit formulae and relate them to the well known $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ results. Interestingly, we find that a precise quantitative treatment is possible only in five dimensions. This is the most interesting because of its connection with the 4-D world within a holographic context. The results obtained herein can thus be extended in various directions and sets the ground for many future investigations.

This paper is arranged in the following way. In Section 2 we discuss the Euclidean AdSn+1 and Schwarzschild-AdSn+1 metrics and set our conventions. In Section 3 we discuss the Dirichlet problem and thermodynamics of the black-hole solutions after briefly discussing the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ case. Phase transitions are studied in Section 4. In Section 5 we specialize to five dimensions and show how the above questions can be addressed precisely. We conclude with remarks on possible ramifications of the results for current topical issues.

## 2 Euclidean AdSn+1 and Schwarzschild-AdSn+1

The Euclidean AdSn+1 and Schwarzschild-AdSn+1 metrics have the following forms:

$$ds^2=V(r)dt^2+V(r)^1dr^2+r^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_{n1}^2.$$
(2.1)
with

$$V(r)=\left(1+\frac{r^2}{l^2}\right),$$
(2.2)
and

$$V(r)=\left(1\frac{\mu }{r^{n2}}+\frac{r^2}{l^2}\right),$$
(2.3)
respectively. Both metrics satisfy the Einstein equation with a cosmological constant $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=\frac{n(n1)}{2l^2}`$. The quantity $`\mu `$ in Eq.(2.3) gives the mass $`m`$ of the black hole

$$\mu =\frac{16\pi Gm}{(n1)\mathrm{Vol}(S^{n1})}.$$
(2.4)
For notational convenience we will set $`l=1`$ without any loss of generality and denote $`r`$ as $`\rho `$ and $`\mu `$ as $`M`$ in this scale. When there is no chance of confusion we will refer to $`M`$ as the “mass” of the black hole. The horizon of the Schwarzschild-AdSn+1 metric (2.1) is the positive root of the equation

$$V(\rho )\left(1\frac{M}{\rho ^{n2}}+\rho ^2\right)=0$$
(2.5)
and will be denoted by $`\rho _b`$. The horizon radius $`\rho _b`$ and the mass $`M`$ are in 1-1 correspondence:

$$M=\rho _b^n+\rho _b^{n2}.$$
(2.6)
The singularity at the horizon can be removed if we give $`t`$ a periodicity of

$$\mathrm{\Delta }t=\frac{2\pi }{\kappa }$$
(2.7)
where

$$\kappa \frac{1}{2}V^{}(\rho __b)=\frac{(n2)}{2}\frac{M}{\rho __b^{n1}}+\rho __b=\frac{1}{2}\frac{n\rho __b^2+n2}{\rho __b}$$
(2.8)
is the surface gravity. The metric is then well-defined for $`\rho __b\rho <\mathrm{}`$ which includes the horizon which is now the $`(n1)`$-dimensional fixed point set of the Killing vector $`/\tau `$ and is a regular bolt of the metric (which explains the use of subscript in $`\rho __b`$). The periodicity $`\mathrm{\Delta }t`$ gives the inverse of Hawking temperature of the hole

$$T_H=\frac{1}{4\pi }\frac{n\rho __b^2+n2}{\rho __b}.$$
(2.9)
Note that the AdSn+1 metric is regular for $`0r\mathrm{}`$. One therefore is not required to ascribe a certain periodicity to $`t`$ in order to achieve regularity. In other words, one can choose the periodicity of $`t`$ arbitrarily as in the case of flat space.

## 3 Black holes in an isothermal cavity and the Dirichlet problem

As mentioned in the introduction, the problem that we address in this paper formally falls under the scope of the classical Dirichlet problem in which one seeks one or more regular $`(n+1)`$-dimensional Riemannian solutions $`(,g_{\mu \nu })`$ of the Einstein equations for a given $`n`$-boundary $`(\mathrm{\Sigma },h_{ij})`$ such that $`=\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ and $`g_{\mu \nu }|_{}=h_{ij}`$ possibly with the condition of regularity. In most physically interesting cases, the Dirichlet problem simplifies as only cohomogeneity-one metrics whose principal orbits share the topology and symmetry of the boundary are considered. In the presence of only a possible cosmological constant term, this reduces the Einstein equation to a set of ordinary differential equations to be solved subject to the boundary condition and regularity. However, in cases of high symmetry the general solution of this set and the manifolds over which they can be extended completely or partially may be known in advance. The Dirichlet problem then simplifies to the problem of embedding $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ in known manifolds – the “infilling” solutions then are the compact regular parts of the manifolds enclosed by $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$. Such solutions provide semi-classical approximations to the path integral and are the starting point of a quantum treatment. Depending on the boundary data there can be zero, one or multiple infilling solutions of similar or different topologies even when one assumes a high degree of symmetry for the codimension-one slices.

Because the classical action consists of a bulk and boundary term, if the geometries of the possible bulk solutions are known as functions of the boundary variables one can find the on-shell Euclidean actions purely in terms of the boundary variables. Knowledge of the bulk geometries in relations to the boundary geometry is all that one needs to obtain for semi-classical considerations. However, it may not be possible to obtain the infilling geometries as analytic functions of the boundary data which then requires one to adopt an indirect approach.

For either AdSn+1 or Schwarzschild-AdSn+1, with the periodic identification of the $`t`$-coordinate, a hypersurface at a constant value of the radial coordinate $`\rho `$, say $`\rho =\rho _0`$, has the trivial product topology $`S^1\times S^{n1}`$ and is endowed with the $`n`$-metric $`h_{ij}`$ given by

$$ds_\mathrm{\Sigma }^2=\beta ^2dt^2+\alpha ^2d\mathrm{\Omega }_{n1}^2.$$
(3.1)
If one excises the part of the manifold for which $`\rho >\rho _0`$ one is left with a non-singular compact manifold with a boundary which, by construction, provides an infilling solution for $`(\mathrm{\Sigma },h_{ij})`$. Therefore for a given $`S^1\times S^{n1}`$ boundary there are two topologically distinct possibilities for the infillings.

Comparing Eqs (3.1) and (2.1), one obtains $`\rho _0=\alpha `$ trivially for either AdSn+1 or Schwarzschild-AdSn+1. For a given $`S^1\times S^{n1}`$ boundary the periodicity of the $`t`$ coordinate of the AdSn+1 metric is given by

$$\sqrt{1+\alpha ^2}\mathrm{\Delta }t=2\pi \beta .$$
(3.2)
Obviously for a given set $`(\alpha ,\beta )`$ the periodicity is unique333This slightly different convention for notation, which makes $`\beta `$ the “radius” of the $`S^1`$ fibre, would avoid the recurrent appearance of $`\pi `$ in the rest of the paper.. On the other hand, for Schwarzschild-AdSn+1 one needs to find the periodicity via (2.7) by solving the following equation for $`M`$ first:

$$\sqrt{1\frac{M}{\alpha ^{n2}}+\alpha ^2}=\beta \kappa (M).$$
(3.3)
This is the standard relationship between the local temperature at the cavity wall and the Hawking temperature

$$T_{loc}=\frac{T_H}{\sqrt{g_{00}}}\frac{T_H}{\sqrt{\left(1\frac{M}{\alpha ^{n2}}+\alpha ^2\right)}}.$$
(3.4)
Eq.(3.3) leads to a complicated algebraic expression in $`M`$. Obviously there is no a priori obstruction as one can start with a Schwarzschild-AdS with known mass and take a constant $`\rho `$-slice for which Eq.(3.3) is true trivially. However, it is not clear for what values of $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ black-hole solutions exist and what their possible number and properties are. We will be addressing these questions in the following sections. But before doing that we briefly recapitulate what we know about the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ case which is a limiting case of the present study (i.e. $`ł\mathrm{}`$ limit). The results for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ will be a constant reference for judging success of the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$ case. The results for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ will also help us understand the limit when the cavity radius is very small compared to $`l^2`$, i.e., when $`\alpha <<1`$.

### 3.1 The case of zero cosmological constant

For $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$, Eq.(3.3) simplifies considerably and can be rewritten as

$$x^nx^2+p=0,$$
(3.5)
where $`xM^{\frac{1}{n2}}/\alpha `$ and $`p=\frac{(n2)^2}{4}\frac{\beta ^2}{\alpha ^2}`$. It is easy to see that there are in general two solutions if

$$p\left(\frac{2}{n}\right)^{\frac{2}{n2}}\left(1\frac{2}{n}\right).$$
(3.6)
For a given $`\alpha `$, this sets an upper limit to $`\beta `$, i.e., this gives a lower limit to the temperature of the cavity-wall

$$TT_m\frac{1}{4\pi }\left(\frac{n}{2}\right)^{\frac{1}{n2}}\sqrt{n(n2)}\frac{1}{\alpha }.$$
(3.7)
For $`T<T_m`$ no black-hole solution exists. For $`T=T_m`$ the two solutions are degenerate and is given by

$$\rho _b=\left(\frac{2}{n}\right)^{\frac{1}{n2}}\alpha .$$
(3.8)
For $`T>T_m`$, there are always two positive roots of Eq.(3.5). For a given cavity, the higher the wall-temperature the heavier (lighter) is the larger (smaller) solution.

For four dimensions the Eq.(3.5) is cubic and is solvable . However, apart from a few other special values of $`n`$ this is not solvable using ordinary algebraic methods. Fortunately, Eq.(3.5) falls under a special class of algebraic equations – commonly known as trinomial equations in the mathematical literature – which can be solved using higher order hypergeometric functions in one variable. For arbitrary $`n`$ and $`p`$ the solutions have been obtained in . Thus the corresponding Riemannian Dirichlet problem is exactly solvable for arbitrary dimension444Restricting of course within the class of cohomogeneity one metrics whose principal orbits share the symmetry and topology of the boundary..

### 3.2 $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$: Schwarzschild-AdSn+1 solutions

For $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ the problem reduces to studying Eq.(3.5) for which it is only the squashing $`\alpha /\beta `$ that matters. For $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$, the analogue of Eq.(3.5) reads

$$F:=\rho __b^{n+2}+\rho __b^n+\frac{1}{4}\alpha ^{n2}\beta ^2n^2\rho __b^4+\frac{1}{2}\alpha ^{n2}\left[\beta ^2n(n2)2(\alpha ^2+1)\right]\rho __b^2+\frac{1}{4}\alpha ^{n2}\beta ^2\left(n2\right)^2=0.$$
(3.9)
This is obtained from Eq.(3.3) by simply eliminating the square-root and using Eq.(2.6). Since $`M`$ and $`\rho __b`$ are in 1-1 correspondence both are in principle equivalent variables. However, use of $`\rho __b`$ leads to algebraic simplifications, albeit the resulting equation is still difficult to solve exactly.

Only the positive roots $`\rho __b<\alpha `$ of Eq.(3.9) will give the mass and hence the geometries of the infilling black holes. Note that Eq.(3.9) cannot be reduced to a one-parameter problem by any redefinition of variables. This is true even for the infinite cavity limit although a different kind of simplification occurs in this limit. The infinite cavity limit has been studied rigorously in  and will occur as a special case in our study.

In four dimensions Eq.(3.9) is quintic and hence, ordinary algebraic methods fail to produce analytic solutions for the masses of the two black holes for four dimensions in terms of radicals unlike the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ case found in . One can, however, solve Eq.(3.9) in terms of hypergeometric functions by following Birkeland’s general solution of algebraic equations of order $`n`$ with arbitrary coefficients  or by using $`𝒜`$-hypergeometric functions . Unlike the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ case, the solutions will be in terms of hypergeometric functions of several variables. The variables will be non-trivial functions of $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$. This method would be unsuitable for obtaining direct information as the cavity radius and temperature are varied and hence will not be used in the rest of the paper. We will return to the issue of explicit solutions in five dimensions in Section 5. However, as we will see below it is possible to study the infilling solutions and their thermodynamics without requiring explicit solutions.

### 3.3 Number of solutions

As mentioned earlier, the only study for finite cavity was made in  for four spacetime dimensions. It was shown there that there are two black hole solutions with negative and positive specific heats within the cavity. Both survive in the infinite cavity-radius limit unlike the Schwarzschild case in flat space. We will now see that this is true for higher dimensions as well555For arbitrary dimensions the only mention of a finite cavity appears briefly by Prestidge in  who ultimately considers the infinite volume limit to search for the negative modes predicted in ..

It is easy to see that Eq.(3.9) does not admit positive solutions if $`\beta ^2\frac{2(\alpha ^2+1)}{n(n2)}`$ since no changes of sign occur in the coefficients of the various powers which are all positive in this case. Only the coefficient of $`\rho __b^2`$ can be negative and this happens if

$$\beta ^2<\frac{2(\alpha ^2+1)}{n(n2)}.$$
(3.10)
There can be up to two positive roots and up to two (for $`n`$ even) or three (for $`n`$ odd) negative roots. Note that (3.10) places a necessary, and not a sufficient condition on $`\beta `$ (equivalently $`T`$). For $`n`$ even, the quantity $`(1)^{n+2}\beta ^2\left(n2\right)^2`$ is positive and hence there can never be one positive root and one negative root. The possibility of having a single positive root is thus ruled out (a double-root is counted twice). Since complex roots appear in pairs, similar arguments apply for $`n`$ odd. Thus, there will be two positive roots (double root counted twice) or no positive roots. Only the positive roots which are less then the cavity radius $`\alpha `$ can qualify as black-hole solutions inside the cavity. It is easy to check that this would automatically be the case for the two possible positive roots of Eq.(3.9). To see this rewrite Eq.(3.9) in the following form:

$$\beta ^2=\frac{4\rho __b^2\left(\alpha ^n+\alpha ^{n2}\rho __b^n\rho __b^{n2}\right)}{\alpha ^{n2}\left(n\rho __b^2+n2\right)^2}.$$
(3.11)
$`\beta ^2`$ is a single-valued function of $`\rho __b`$ and is positive if and only if $`\rho __b(0,\alpha )`$. It is continuous and well-defined within this interval (the denominator is strictly positive). This is true for $`n3`$ and for any positive value of $`\alpha `$. Since the maximum number of positive roots of Eq.(3.9) is two, it immediately follows that $`\beta ^2`$ grows from zero (at $`\rho __b=0`$) and ends with zero (at $`\rho =\alpha `$) with one “hump” in the middle, i.e., $`\beta ^2`$ increases monotonically to a maximum $`\beta _m^2`$ and then decreases monotonically to zero (Fig. 5.1). Therefore there will be two $`\rho __b`$, i.e., two black-hole solutions for a given boundary with specified $`(\alpha ,\beta )`$ provided $`\beta `$ (or $`T`$) is equal to or less (greater) than the minimum value needed for the cavity radius of $`\alpha `$. Because $`\beta `$ is a continuous function of $`\rho __b`$ within the interval $`(0,\alpha )`$ the two black-hole solutions exist for any temperature above the minimum value without any discontinuity. This holds for arbitrary cavity-radius. The minimum temperature needed for the solutions to exist is a function of the radius of the cavity and will be discussed in Section 5.3.4.

Note that the shape of the curve for $`\beta ^2`$ as a function of $`\rho __b`$ is not obvious from Eq.(3.11) alone because of the non-triviality of the denominator. The fact that there will be two/no positive roots, as we have shown before, is crucial to the argument for the general number of solutions.

### 3.4 The minimum temperature $`T_m`$ as a function of cavity radius

For a cavity of fixed radius the minimum temperature $`T_m`$ required for the black-hole solutions to exist is the one corresponding to the maximum of $`\beta \beta _m`$ at which the solutions are degenerate. By differentiating Eq.(3.11) one obtains that at $`\beta =\beta _m`$

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill n(n2)\rho _{_{b_m}}^{n+2}+2\left(n^22n2\right)\rho _{_{b_m}}^n+n(n2)\rho _{_{b_m}}^{n2}& +& 2n\left(\alpha ^n+\alpha ^{n2}\right)\rho _{_{b_m}}^2\hfill \\ & & 2\left(n2\right)\left(\alpha ^n+\alpha ^{n2}\right)=0\hfill \end{array}$$
(3.12)
where $`\rho _{_{b_m}}`$ is the value corresponding to the maximum (minimum) of $`\beta `$ ( $`T`$) (and does not stand for the minimum/maximum value of $`\rho __b`$). One obtains the minimum temperature as a function of the cavity radius by directly substituting the root of Eq.(3.12) in Eq.(3.11)666One can check that Eq.(3.12) has a positive root in the interval $`(0,\alpha )`$. However, this trivially follows from our previous analysis.. However, note that, like Eq.(3.9), Eq.(3.12) is not generally solvable using ordinary algebraic methods.

For $`n3`$, all terms in Eq.(3.12) are positive except the last. It therefore follows that

$$2n(\alpha ^n+\alpha ^{n2})\rho _{_{b_m}}^22(n2)(\alpha ^n+\alpha ^{n2})<0$$
(3.13)
implying

$$\rho _{_{b_m}}<\sqrt{\frac{n2}{n}}.$$
(3.14)
After dividing Eq.(3.12) by $`(\alpha ^n+\alpha ^{n2})`$ it is easy to see that the larger the value of $`\alpha `$ the larger is $`\rho _{b_m}`$. This accounts for the gradual shift of the peak to the right in Fig. 5.1 for larger values of cavity radius. At the infinite cavity limit (3.13) is replaced by an equality giving

$$\rho _{_{b_m}}=\sqrt{\frac{n2}{n}}$$
(3.15)
exactly. This therefore gives an absolute upper bound on the horizon radius, and hence the entropy, of the smaller black hole irrespective of the cavity radius and temperature. Note that Eq.(3.15) can be obtained by differentiating the Hawking temperature given by the inverse of $`\mathrm{\Delta }t`$. With a finite cavity, one needs to vary the product of the Hawking temperature multiplied by the Tolman red-shift factor for which the extremum occurs at a different value of $`\rho __b`$. For finite cavity this value of $`\rho __b`$ is less than that obtained by varying the Hawking temperature alone which is Eq.(3.15) and gradually increases asymptotically to (3.15) as one increases the cavity radius.

### 3.5 Geometry of Eq.(3.9)

The difficulties in obtaining exact solutions of Eq.(3.12) does not preclude us from observing the following general fact : $`T_m(\alpha )`$ increases with decreasing radius of the cavity. This is because the curve for $`\beta `$ as a function of $`\rho __b`$ for any fixed value $`\alpha `$ of the cavity radius completely covers the curve corresponding to a lower value of $`\alpha `$. We have already noticed this from Fig. 5.1. To see that this holds in general consider the converse: if two curves of $`\beta `$ (corresponding to two different values of cavity radius $`\alpha `$) as a function of $`\rho _b`$ meet at some point in the $`\beta ^2\rho __b`$ plane, the two values of $`\alpha `$ should satisfy Eq.(3.9) for the same pair $`(\beta ^2,\rho __b)`$. Treating Eq.(3.9) as an equation for $`\alpha `$, it is easy to see that there can be only one/no positive solution for $`\alpha `$ for a given $`(\beta ^2,\rho __b)`$. Therefore nowhere in the $`\beta ^2\rho __b`$ plane can two curves corresponding to two different values of $`\alpha `$ meet. The curves corresponding to lower values of $`\alpha `$ will be within the envelopes of those corresponding to higher values of $`\alpha `$. Therefore the minimum temperature $`T_m`$ needed for the existence of two black-hole solutions increases with decreasing cavity radius. Since $`\beta `$ (as a function of $`\rho __b`$) is continuous, for any arbitrarily higher temperature the two solutions continue to exist.

As derivatives of $`\beta ^2`$ with respect to $`\alpha `$ are smooth, the curves in the $`\beta ^2\rho __b`$ plane for various values of $`\alpha `$ fill in densely. The two dimensional surface of Eq.(3.9) in the $`\alpha ^2\beta ^2\rho __b`$ space is therefore smooth and continuous. Therefore $`T_m`$ is a smooth function of the cavity radius and increases with decreasing value of the radius. It remains to see whether it is possible to obtain $`T_m`$ as a function of the cavity radius. We will return to this issue in section 5.1.

### 3.6 Infinite Cavity Limit

For any finite Schwarzschild-AdS black hole the local temperature at infinity is zero. Therefore the above picture – where one fixes the cavity radius and its wall-temperature – is not well-defined in the infinite limit of the cavity in the case of Schwarzschild-AdS. One cannot simply fix a non-zero temperature at infinity and look for a finite Schwarzschild-AdS black-hole solution in the interior. This, however, is only possible in the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ limit. For vanishing temperature at infinity all Schwarzschild-AdS black holes are equally good infilling solutions.

However, the product of the local temperature and the cavity radius is well-defined in the infinite cavity limit777In the Euclidean picture, it corresponds to the fact that the ratio of the radii of the $`S^1`$ fibre and the $`S^{n1}`$ base remains finite.. This product essentially is the Hawking temperature (2.9) and substitutes the wall-temperature of the cavity in this limit. One can now study the thermodynamics of black holes in terms of the Hawking temperature alone. This has been done in . For a given Hawking temperature, there are in general two black holes – this corresponds to the doubled-valuedness of the former as one can see from (2.9). The Hawking temperature has a minimum, $`T_m=\frac{1}{2\pi }\sqrt{n(n2)}`$ which corresponds to a horizon-radius of $`\rho _b=\sqrt{(n2)/n}`$ in conformity with our analysis above. The mass of one hole decreases and the other increases as one raises the Hawking temperature.

One can immediately see the simplifications arising in the infinite limit of the cavity. It is rather trivial to find the masses of the two black holes from the Hawking temperature (2.9) in contrast to the finite-cavity case where one needs to solve (3.9). Further simplification arises in this limit when one considers semi-classical implications. This will appear in the next section in which we will explore the semi-classical implications for arbitrary finite cavity from which known results in the infinite limit of the cavity will be reproduced as a special case.

## 4 On-shell Actions, Semi-classical Results and Phase Transition

Our discussion so far was purely classical. However, it has set the ground for semi-classical considerations as we will see below. First, let us briefly recall the facts for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ case. We have already mentioned that the Dirichlet problem is exactly solvable in this case. This enables one to find the classical actions $`I_E`$ of the infilling black-hole solutions as functions of boundary variables and thus study semi-classical physics. The specific heat of the larger solution is positive and that of the smaller solution is negative. From the action one also finds that the larger mass solution in $`(n+1)`$-dimensions, which has a positive specific heat, has a lower action than hot flat space, for temperatures

$$T>T_c\frac{1}{4\pi }\frac{n2}{\sqrt{\left(\frac{4(n1)}{n^2}\right)^{\frac{2}{\left(n2\right)}}\left(\frac{4(n1)}{n^2}\right)^{\frac{n}{\left(n2\right)}}}}\frac{1}{\alpha }.$$
(4.1)
The lower mass solution always has a larger action than flat space. Thus above $`T_c(\alpha )`$ the larger black-hole solution can spontaneously nucleate from hot flat space within the cavity in a thermodynamically consistent manner in which the free energy of the system, $`F=I_E/(2\pi \beta )`$, does not increase. As one takes the cavity radius to infinity the larger solution fills in the entire cavity irrespective of its wall temperature and hence becomes irrelevant and only the smaller solution exists. Therefore, black-hole nucleation is thermodynamically consistent only within a finite cavity. Note that the critical temperature $`T_c`$ is inversely proportional to the cavity radius and is higher than the minimum temperature $`T_m`$ (3.7) needed for the two black hole solutions to exist classically. We will see below that the situation is similar for anti-de Sitter space as well. To the best of our knowledge, such a study has not been carried out before for four or higher dimensions except the study made in infinite cavity limit in  and which will reappear as a special case below.

### 4.1 Action of the Infilling Black Holes

For an $`(n+1)`$-dimensional manifold $``$ with an $`n`$-dimensional boundary $``$, the Euclidean action is :

$$I_E=\frac{1}{16\pi G}_{}d^{n+1}x\sqrt{g}\left(R2\mathrm{\Lambda }\right)\frac{1}{8\pi G}_{}d^nx\sqrt{h}K$$
(4.2)
where $`g_{\mu \nu }`$ is the metric on $``$ and $`h_{ij}`$ is the induced $`n`$-metric on the boundary, i.e., $`g_{ij|_{}}=h_{ij}`$. $`K`$ is the trace of the extrinsic curvature $`K_{ij}`$ of the boundary defined according to the convention that the outward normal to the boundary is positive.

The Einstein equation obtained from this action is $`R_{\mu \nu }=\frac{2\mathrm{\Lambda }}{n1}g_{\mu \nu }`$. Recall that $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=\frac{n(n1)}{2l^2}`$ and that we set $`l=1`$. The on-shell action therefore reads

$$I_E=\frac{1}{16\pi G}\left(2n_{}\sqrt{g}d^{n+1}x+2_{}\sqrt{h}d^nxK\right).$$
(4.3)
The first integral is the $`(n+1)`$-volume of $``$ and the second integral geometrically is the rate of change of the $`n`$-volume of the boundary $``$ along the unit outward normal.

For a Schwarzschild-AdSn+1 with an $`S^1\times S^{n1}`$ boundary at a constant radial distance it is fairly straightforward to calculate both of above bulk and boundary contributions to the on-shell action. They respectively are

$$V_{bh}=_{}\sqrt{g}d^{n+1}x=\frac{2\pi }{n\kappa }\left(\alpha ^n\rho __b^n\right)\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^{\mathrm{n}1})$$
(4.4)
and

$$_{}d^nx\sqrt{h}K=\frac{2\pi }{\kappa }\left(n\alpha ^n+(n1)\alpha ^{n2}\frac{n}{2}M\right)\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^{\mathrm{n}1}).$$
(4.5)
Recalling that $`M=\rho __b^n+\rho __b^{n2}`$, one obtains

$$I_{E_{bh}}=\frac{1}{4G}\left(\frac{\rho __b}{n\rho __b^2+n2}\right)\left((n2)\rho __b^n+n\rho __b^{n2}2(n1)(\alpha ^n+\alpha ^{n2})\right)\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^{\mathrm{n}1}).$$
(4.6)
In the convention the $`(n+1)`$-dimensional Schwarzschild-AdS and AdS metrics have been written, the base manifold $`S^{n1}`$ (with the canonical round metric on it) satisfies the $`(n1)`$-dimensional Einstein equation with a cosmological constant $`(n1)`$. This is what is referred to as the “unit” $`(n1)`$-dimensional sphere in the literature. Its volume $`\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^{\mathrm{n}1})=2\pi ^{\frac{n}{2}}/\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\frac{n}{2}\right)`$.

A few comments are in order. First, note that the action (4.6) is in terms of horizon radius. The actions for the two infilling black hole solutions in terms of the boundary variables $`(\alpha ,\beta )`$ are obtained from it via substitution once the two solutions of (3.9) are known. This takes us back to the classical Dirichlet problem; explicit expressions for actions can be obtained only when we know the explicit solutions of the infilling geometries. Also note that action (4.6) is finite for finite $`\alpha `$. Hence, there is no *a priori* need to do a background subtraction (by taking off the action of AdS) in this case to make the action finite as is needed in the infinite cavity limit . However, such a subtraction will appear in the next section in the course of determining which classical solution will dominate the path-integral for varying cavity radius and its wall temperature.

### 4.2 Entropy and Specific Heats

The canonical entropy of the system is

$$S=\beta \left(\frac{I_{E_{bh}}}{\beta }\right)I_E$$
(4.7)
in which the derivative is evaluated while keeping the area of cavity fixed. The variation of $`\beta `$ changes $`I_E`$ through variation of the mass, or equivalently the horizon radius $`\rho __b`$ of an infilling hole, and so

$$S=\beta \left(\frac{I_{E_{bh}}}{\rho __b}\right)\left(\frac{\rho __b}{\beta }\right)I_E.$$
(4.8)
One calculates the above two derivative terms using (4.6) and (3.11). After some lengthy algebra one finds

$$S=\frac{1}{4G}\rho __b^{n1}$$
(4.9)
precisely. This shows that the universal law of black-hole entropy remains valid for such boundary conditions888It also confirms that we have not missed out any factors in our action calculation which will be important for doing precise calculations later in the paper.. This, to our knowledge, is the first derivation of this result via the semi-classical path-integral approach.

It now immediately follows from the area-law and the study we made in Section 3.4 on the variation of the mass of the two holes as functions of wall-temperature that the specific heat

$$C_A=T\frac{S}{T}$$
(4.10)
is positive for the larger black hole and negative for the smaller black hole, and hence they are thermodynamically stable and unstable respectively. The specific heat is zero when the two solutions are degenerate.

### 4.3 Phase transitions between hot AdSn+1 and Schwarzschild-AdSn+1 within a finite cavity

To see that a phase transition from hot AdS to Schwarzschild-AdS can occur within the cavity, we need to compare the action of the infilling Schwarzschild-AdSn+1 solutions with that of hot AdSn+1 space which is unique for any given $`S^1\times S^n`$ boundary. We do so by computing the actions of the infilling Schwarzschild-AdSn+1 solutions in the “background” of the hot unique AdSn+1 space, i.e., by subtracting the action of the AdSn+1 from that of the black hole (4.6). In the infinite limit of the cavity this calculation simplifies as the boundary terms of the AdS and Schwarzschild-AdS cancel . This simplification does not exists for the finite cavity. Compared to the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ case, on the other hand, the periodically identified AdS space has a non-trivial Tolman redshift factor. This makes the boundary term more important and the corresponding calculation more delicate than in flat space . One therefore needs to be cautious in subtracting the AdS action from the Schwarzschild-AdS action in the case of finite cavity. This is done as follows. First calculate the volume and boundary terms for AdSn+1. They respectively are

$$V_{AdS}=_{}\sqrt{g}d^{n+1}x=\frac{\mathrm{\Delta }t}{n}\alpha ^n\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^{\mathrm{n}1})$$
(4.11)
and

$$_{}d^nx\sqrt{h}K_0=\mathrm{\Delta }t\left(n\alpha ^n+(n1)\alpha ^{n2}\right)\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^{\mathrm{n}1})$$
(4.12)
where $`\mathrm{\Delta }t=2\pi \beta /(\sqrt{1+\alpha ^2})`$ as given by Eq.(3.2). Since the infilling hot AdSn+1 space and the two infilling black holes have the same $`n`$-metric on the $`S^1\times S^{n1}`$ boundary, we can replace $`\beta `$ using Eq.(3.3), giving

$$\mathrm{\Delta }t=\frac{2\pi }{\kappa }\sqrt{\frac{1\frac{M}{\alpha ^{n2}}+\alpha ^2}{1+\alpha ^2}}$$
(4.13)
where $`M`$ is either of the two infilling black hole masses. The reason for replacing $`\beta `$ is to express the action in the same form as the black-hole action. The volume and the boundary terms for AdSn+1 then read

$$V_{AdS}=_{}\sqrt{g}d^{n+1}x=\frac{2\pi }{n\kappa }\sqrt{\frac{1\frac{M}{\alpha ^{n2}}+\alpha ^2}{1+\alpha ^2}}\alpha ^n\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^{\mathrm{n}1}),$$
(4.14)
$$_{}d^nx\sqrt{h}K_0=\frac{2\pi }{\kappa }\sqrt{\frac{1\frac{M}{\alpha ^{n2}}+\alpha ^2}{1+\alpha ^2}}\left(n\alpha ^n+(n1)\alpha ^{n2}\right)\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^{\mathrm{n}1}).$$
(4.15)
Note that because periodically identified AdSn+1 space has a non-trivial Tolman shift factor unlike hot flat space, the boundary term (4.15) contains contributions from the changes in the volume of cavity as well as the local temperature along the radial direction of the cavity, or equivalently, in the Euclidean language: both changes in the $`S^{n1}`$ base as well as the radius of the $`S^1`$-fire at the $`S^1\times S^{n1}`$ boundary along the outward normal. The action of a black hole minus that of hot AdS therefore reads

$$I_E=\frac{1}{4G}\left(\frac{\rho __b}{n\rho __b^2+n2}\right)\left((n2)\rho __b^n+n\rho __b^{n2}2(n1)(1s)(\alpha ^n+\alpha ^{n2})\right)\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^{\mathrm{n}1})$$
(4.16)
where, for short-hand,

$$s\sqrt{\frac{1\frac{M}{\alpha ^{n2}}+\alpha ^2}{1+\alpha ^2}}1.$$
(4.17)
The action for either of the two infilling black holes is found by substituting the corresponding solutions of $`\rho __b`$ of Eq.(3.9). The actions are then functions of cavity radius and the wall temperature, i.e. expressed in terms of boundary data. Therefore once analytic solutions of Eq.(3.9) are known the actions are known exactly.

#### Phase Transition and the Critical Temperature

The action (4.16) is a smooth, single-valued function of $`\rho __b`$. It is zero for $`\rho __b=0`$ and for $`\rho __b`$ small (compared to $`\alpha `$) the first two terms in the bracket dominate and the action is positive. As one increases $`\rho __b`$ it grows monotonically to a maximum value and then decreases monotonically to

$$I_E(\alpha )=\frac{1}{4G}\frac{\alpha }{n2+n\alpha ^2}\left(n\alpha ^n+(n2)\alpha ^{n2}\right)2\pi ^{\frac{n}{2}}/\mathrm{\Gamma }\left(\frac{n}{2}\right)$$
(4.18)
corresponding to $`\rho __b=\alpha `$. This is negative definite. The overall behaviour is similar to that in flat-space . Below (Figure 2-3) we plot $`I_E`$ for various values of $`\alpha `$ for $`n=3`$. We choose four dimensions here because of its obvious physical importance and also because the case of five dimensions, which is physically interesting from a holographic point of view, will be discussed in detail in the Section 5. We set $`G=1`$.

This phase transition, however, is in terms of the horizon radius (equivalently, the mass) of a black hole within the cavity. This shows that within any finite cavity for sufficiently large value of its horizon radius Schwarzschild-AdS becomes more probable than hot AdS. This phase transition is possible for any value of the cavity radius and is physical, i.e. the black hole does not engulf the cavity. However, to revert to the canonical language we need to understand how the phase transition takes place as function the temperature of the wall instead of horizon-radius (or mass) of the hole while the radius of the cavity is held fixed. This needs care and is not obvious because of the double-valuedness of the infilling black-holes solutions. Can both of the two black-holes have larger action than AdS? Does the scenario vary with varying radius of the wall? To answer these questions we need to recall what we have learned about the classical nature of the two solutions within the cavity. It is not difficult to see that it is the larger mass solution that nucleates from hot AdS for sufficiently high temperature of the heat-bath. The action (4.16) of the lower mass solution is always positive thus making it the least probable solution semi-classically. To see this recall that there is an absolute upper bound, $`\rho __b<\sqrt{(n2)/n}`$, of the horizon radius of the smaller black hole. When the cavity radius is not too small the action (4.16) will always be positive within this range (Figure 3). On the other hand, when the cavity is small the action (4.16) (as well as the overall scenario) approaches the flat-space limit (see Figure 2 above) and remains positive for the smaller hole as discussed briefly above and in detail in . Therefore the action of the lower mass black hole is always positive irrespective of the cavity radius and temperature. Only the action of the larger mass hole is negative for $`T>T_c`$ and remains so for all higher temperatures.

The critical temperature $`T_c`$ can be found by equating (4.18) to zero and eliminating the square roots. In $`(n+1)`$ dimensions this gives us an equation

$$(n2)^2\rho _{_{bc}}^{n+2}+2n(n2)\rho _{_{bc}}^n+n^2\rho _{_{bc}}^{}{}_{}{}^{n2}+4(n1)\alpha ^{n2}(1+\alpha ^2)\rho _{_{bc}}^24(n1)\alpha ^{n2}(1+\alpha ^2)=0$$
(4.19)
where $`\rho _{_{bc}}`$ is the radius of the larger black hole at the critical temperature.

Once the solution of this equation is found, $`T_c`$ is determined via (3.11). Note that this equation has an appearance similar to Eq.(3.12). Using the identical arguments used for Eq.(3.12) it is easy to demonstrate that for large value of the cavity-radius $`\rho _{_{bc}}`$ tends to unity. Also, this value is the upper bound to $`\rho _{_{bc}}`$. This is because like Eq.(3.12), the coefficients of various powers in (4.19) do not involve the cavity radius. As in the case of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$, the horizon-radius of the nucleated black hole (or its mass) at the critical temperature increases with the cavity radius. Therefore this provides us with another example in which a sharp contrast exists between the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ cases. We will come back to this issue in the next section when we discuss five dimensions specifically and in the Conclusion.

### 4.4 Infinite Cavity Limit

For large $`\alpha `$

$$s=1\frac{1}{2}\frac{m}{\alpha ^n}+\mathrm{higher}\mathrm{order}\mathrm{terms}.$$
(4.20)
Therefore for $`\alpha \mathrm{}`$ one obtains the following action of

$$I_E=\frac{1}{16\kappa G}\left(\rho __b^{n2}\rho __b^n\right)\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^{\mathrm{n}1})$$
(4.21)
giving the Hawking-Page phase transition at $`\rho __b=1`$. This action is certainly much simpler than its finite boundary analogue (4.16).

It is straightforward to check the area-law of entropy and from it the specific heats of the two solutions. Following our discussion in Section 3.6 on the Hawking temperature it is easy to see that the specific heat expression (4.10)

$$C_A=T\frac{S}{T}$$
(4.22)
essentially reduces to one where $`T`$ can be replaced by $`T_H`$, the Hawking temperature. Thus for any value of the Hawking temperature (above the minimum $`\sqrt{n(n2)}/2\pi `$, of course), the larger and the smaller black hole solutions will have positive and negative specific heats respectively. The critical (Hawking) temperature in this case is $`(n2)/(2\pi )`$, as one can check easily.

## 5 Five Dimensions: Exact Results

We have already remarked that Eq.(3.9) is a quintic in four dimensions and the degree of this equation increases linearly with dimensionality. However, an observation that we have not made so far is that in odd dimensions Eq.(3.9) is an equation in $`\rho __b^2`$. For five and seven dimensions Eq.(3.9) is cubic and quartic respectively and can be solved exactly using ordinary algebraic methods. Thus the Dirichlet problem in these dimensions is exactly solvable and one obtains the bulk geometries in terms of the boundary variables. From a holographic perspective five dimensions is special and we will treat it in detail. In this case Eq.(3.9) reads

$$z^3+\left(1+4\alpha ^2\beta ^2\right)z^2+\alpha ^2\left[4\beta ^2(\alpha ^2+1)\right]z+\alpha ^2\beta ^2=0.$$
(5.1)
in which we have substituted $`z`$ for $`\rho __b^2`$.

### Explicit solutions

The three roots of (5.1) are given by Cardano’s solution of the cubic:

$$z_1=\frac{1}{6}(P+12\sqrt{Q})^{\frac{1}{3}}\frac{R}{6(P+12\sqrt{Q})^{\frac{1}{3}}}\frac{1}{3}(1+4\alpha ^2\beta ^2),$$
(5.2)
$$z_2=\frac{1}{12}(P+12\sqrt{Q})^{\frac{1}{3}}\frac{R}{12(P+12\sqrt{Q})^{\frac{1}{3}}}\frac{1}{3}(1+4\alpha ^2\beta ^2)\frac{i\sqrt{3}}{2}(\frac{1}{6(P+12\sqrt{Q})^{\frac{1}{3}}}\frac{R}{(P+12\sqrt{Q})^{\frac{1}{3}}})$$
(5.3)
and

$$z_3=\frac{1}{12}(P+12\sqrt{Q})^{\frac{1}{3}}\frac{R}{12(P+12\sqrt{Q})^{\frac{1}{3}}}\frac{1}{3}(1+4\alpha ^2\beta ^2)+\frac{i\sqrt{3}}{2}(\frac{1}{6(P+12\sqrt{Q})^{\frac{1}{3}}}\frac{R}{(P+12\sqrt{Q})^{\frac{1}{3}}})$$
(5.4)
where

$$P=16\alpha ^6\beta ^2\left(32\beta ^4+9\right)+12\alpha ^4\left(16\beta ^412\beta ^23\right)12\alpha ^2\left(5\beta ^2+3\right)8$$
(5.5)
and

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\hfill Q& =& 3\alpha ^2\left(2\alpha ^2+1\right)^2\hfill \\ & & \left(\alpha ^6(4\beta ^4+1)\alpha ^4(32\beta ^64\beta ^4+10\beta ^22)+\alpha ^2(13\beta ^410\beta ^2+1)4\beta ^2\right)\hfill \end{array}$$
(5.6)
and

$$R=4\alpha ^4(16\beta ^4+3)+4\alpha ^2(34\beta ^2).$$
(5.7)
As usual with Cardano’s solutions, the three roots of Eq.(5.1) are given in an imaginary form and hence it is not obvious which two are positive. However, since we know that they will be positive/complex together, it is easy to single out the expressions for the two positive roots; they are $`z_1`$ and $`z_2`$ (see below). These two solutions therefore give the masses of the two black holes, and hence the infilling geometries in terms of the boundary data.

### 5.1 The minimum temperature $`T_m`$ for black holes

In finding various other quantities of interest one still needs to be judicious in choosing the correct algebraic approach as we will see below. First we would like to know $`T_m`$ (above which the two black hole solutions classically) as function of cavity radius. This has been discussed qualitatively in Section 3.4 for arbitrary dimensions. To find $`T_m`$ exactly, one is required to find the positive root of (3.12) and then obtain $`T_m`$ from (3.11). For five dimensions this is possible as (3.12) simplifies to a cubic equation like (5.1). However, the resulting algebraic expression for $`T_m`$ will not be economical and easy to simplify.

A much nicer algebraic expression follows if one considers Eq.(5.1) directly and makes use of the known algebraic methods. Eq.(5.1) admits a negative root and pair of positive or complex roots. These positive roots are in 1-1 correspondence with the two positive roots of Eq.(3.9) (for $`n=4`$) and hence all qualitative observations made earlier apply directly. In particular, the positive roots of Eq.(5.1) will appear and disappear simultaneously together with the two positive roots of Eq.(3.9) as $`\beta `$ is varied. Because it is cubic and has a negative root, if we ensure that Eq.(5.1) has all real roots then two of them will be positive automatically and will correspond to the two Schwarzschild-AdS5 infilling geometries. The condition for a cubic equation to have all three roots real is well-known (see, for example, ). In this case it reads

$$32\alpha ^4\beta ^6\alpha ^2\left(4\alpha ^4+4\alpha ^2+13\right)\beta ^4+2\left(5\alpha ^4+5\alpha ^2+2\right)\beta ^2\alpha ^2(\alpha ^2+1)^20.$$
(5.8)
When the equality of this equation holds, the two positive roots of are degenerate. Therefore the maximum value of $`\beta _m`$ is simply the solution of

$$32\alpha ^4\beta _{m}^{}{}_{}{}^{6}\alpha ^2\left(4\alpha ^4+4\alpha ^2+13\right)\beta _{m}^{}{}_{}{}^{4}+2\left(5\alpha ^4+5\alpha ^2+2\right)\beta _{m}^{}{}_{}{}^{2}\alpha ^2(\alpha ^2+1)^2=0.$$
(5.9)
This is cubic in $`\beta _m^2`$ and admits a unique positive root for any value of $`\alpha `$ giving

$$T_m=\frac{1}{2\pi }\sqrt{\frac{A^{\frac{2}{3}}840\alpha ^4856\alpha ^2215+16\alpha ^4+32\alpha ^6+13A^{\frac{1}{3}}+4\alpha ^4A^{\frac{1}{3}}+4\alpha ^2A^{\frac{1}{3}}}{96\alpha ^2A^{\frac{1}{3}}}}.$$
(5.10)
where

$$A=64\alpha ^{12}+192\alpha ^{10}+8880\alpha ^8+17440\alpha ^610308\alpha ^418996\alpha ^25291+192(2\alpha ^2+1)^2\sqrt{3\left(\alpha ^4+\alpha ^2+7\right)^3}.$$
(5.11)
This is plotted in Figure 4. The smaller the cavity the higher is $`T_m`$ in concordance with our observations in Section 3 (and Figure 1).

### 5.2 Actions, Phase transition and Critical Temperature

The action (4.6) in five dimensions is

$$I_E=\frac{1}{4G}\left(\frac{\sqrt{z}}{2z+1}\right)\left(z^2+2z3\left(\alpha ^4+\alpha ^2\right)\right)\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^3).$$
(5.12)
The actions of the two black holes are found by substituting $`z_1`$ and $`z_2`$ in it. The action in the background of hot AdS space given by (4.16) reads

$$I_E=\frac{1}{4G}\left(\frac{\sqrt{z}}{2z+1}\right)\left(z^2+2z3(1s)\left(\alpha ^4+\alpha ^2\right)\right)\mathrm{Vol}(\mathrm{S}^3)$$
(5.13)
in which

$$s=\sqrt{\frac{1\frac{z^2+z}{\alpha ^2}+\alpha ^2}{1+\alpha ^2}}.$$
(5.14)
Again it is possible to find the actions of the two black holes by substituting $`z_1`$ and $`z_2`$ directly in (5.13).

### Critical Temperature

We have already shown that a phase transition takes the hot AdS to the larger mass Schwarzschild-AdS irrespective of the radius of the cavity if the temperature of the cavity is above a certain critical value. This critical value of temperature $`T_c`$ is a function of cavity radius. We found that the radius of the black hole at the critical temperature of a cavity does not increase indefinitely with the cavity radius as in the case of vacuum. With the simplification arising in the case of five dimensions we are able to treat these issues exactly. First the radius of the black hole at the critical temperature is obtained by equating (5.13) to zero (or just setting $`n=4`$ in (4.19)):

$$z_c^3+4z_c^2+(3\alpha ^4+3\alpha ^2+4)z3(\alpha ^4+\alpha ^2)=0.$$
(5.15)
For any value of $`\alpha `$ this has one positive root. Again this is cubic and hence can be solved exactly. The square-root of the positive solution of Eq.(5.15) $`\rho _{_{bc}}`$ is plotted in Figure 5. We do not write the explicit form solution here to save space.

The critical radius is thus found as an exact function of the cavity radius and allows us to find the critical temperature $`T_c`$ needed for the cavity to undergo a semi-classical phase transition. It is obtained simply by substituting the solutions of Eq.(5.15) in (3.11) for $`n=4`$. Again, we do not mention the explicit solution here as the form is not particularly illuminating. We plot $`T_c`$ as a function of the cavity radius in Figure 6.

## 6 Conclusion

In this paper we studied the thermodynamics of Schwarzschild black holes in anti-de Sitter space within a cavity immersed in an isothermal bath as functions of the cavity radius and its wall-temperature, i.e., the temperature of the bath. This led us to consider the associated Dirichlet boundary-value problem in Riemannian geometry for an $`S^1\times S^n`$ boundary specified by its two radii $`(\beta ,\alpha )`$. The connection between the Lorentzian and the Euclidean pictures are such that the circumference of the $`S^1`$ fibre gives the inverse temperature of the bath. Two topologically distinct infillings are possible – one with a nut (the Euclidean AdS) and the other with a bolt (the Euclidean Schwarzschild-AdS). In the latter case one finds that the infilling geometry is double-valued and exists for a restricted range in the $`\alpha \beta `$ plane999In the case of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$, for a boundary which is a non-trivial $`S^1`$-bundle over $`S^2`$ the number of regular bolt-type infillings (Taub-Bolt-AdS infillings) can be as high as ten  while the nut-type infillings (self-dual Taub-Nut-AdS infillings) are unique , in the case of the latter explicit solutions can be obtained. In the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ case, such boundaries are studied for arbitrary dimensions in  where it is shown that bolt-type infillings are always double-valued with the only exception of Eguchi-Hanson metrics in which case the solutions are unique as in the case of all nut-type infillings.. We studied the condition on $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ for the existence of such classical infillings and explored the possibility of obtaining their explicit solutions in terms $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ (or $`T`$). We then considered which solutions will dominate the path integral semi-classically as one varies the boundary data by computing their actions and studying them carefully. We found the overall qualitative picture to be similar to that found in flat space : For any value of the wall temperature a unique hot AdS solution exists whereas for wall-temperatures below a minimum value $`T_m`$ no Schwarzschild-AdS solutions exist. Above this temperature there are two black-hole solutions which continue to exist for all higher temperatures. As one increases the temperature of the cavity the larger hole becomes heavier and the smaller one gets lighter. We found the on-shell action of the holes and showed that the standard area-law of black-hole entropy holds for such boundary conditions from which one can immediately deduce that the larger and the smaller holes have positive and negative specific heats respectively as in the flat space case. At $`T_m`$, both of the black holes have a positive action and hence the AdS infilling is most probable and continues to remain so until a critical temperature $`T_c`$ is reached when the action of the larger hole is zero. For $`T>T_c`$ the action of the larger hole becomes negative definite. Note that as one increases the temperature of the cavity from $`T_m`$, the mass of the smaller hole decreases and its action decreases monotonically (and reaches zero at infinite temperature). But, although its mass increases monotonically with temperature, the action of the larger hole increases only up to a certain positive value before it starts decreasing monotonically to zero at $`T_c`$ and becomes more negative for increasing temperatures and reaches a fixed value (4.18) at infinite temperature. This picture is the same for an arbitrary value of the cavity radius and quantitatively approaches the flat space limit for small radii. Both $`T_m`$ and $`T_c`$ decrease for larger value of the cavity radius as in flat space. However, despite the similarity, we have noted certain differences between the $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$ and $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ cases. As we have seen in Section 3.4, there is an absolute upper bound on the horizon radius of the smaller hole for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$ whereas there is no such absolute limit in the case of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }=0`$ – the upper limit in this case is only on $`x`$ which translates to the limit (3.8). Another difference that occurs is in the horizon radius of the larger hole nucleated at the critical temperature. This approaches an absolute value of unity (in the units of the paper) for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$. In the flat space limit this gets larger and larger for higher values of the cavity radius.

In the infinite limit of the cavity, on the other hand, the above study reduces to the study made in . We have shown how this happens and how the only meaningful thermodynamic variable in this limit is the Hawking temperature. In the Euclidean picture, this corresponds to the fact that it is only the ratio of the radii of the fibre and the base of the (infinite boundary) that is meaningful in this limit– this, in fact, is pivotal for the AdS/CFT correspondence studied in . The problem of finding explicit masses of black hole solutions as functions of the Hawking temperature and evaluation of other thermodynamic quantities simplifies enormously in this limit. Note that the phase transition found in this paper for finite cavity does not follow from the Hawking-Page phase transition by means of logical extrapolation. This is because the larger black-hole solution and the hot AdS solution which induce the same metric on the finite $`S^1\times S^n`$-boundary, do not have the same $`S^1\times S^n`$-metric at infinity and if they match near infinity they would not match anywhere at a finite radial distance. That there is only one meaningful variable at infinity is slightly analogous to the situation in the flat-space limit where, although both the radii of the base and the fibre enter into the explicit solutions, it is only the squashing of the two radii that is truly meaningful as one can see from Eq.(3.5). In the case of finite $`S^1\times S^n`$-boundary both of the radii play a non-trivial role for $`\mathrm{\Lambda }<0`$.

All of the above results were obtained without taking recourse to explicit infilling black-hole solutions for which one needs to solve Eq.(3.9). This equation cannot be simplified by some redefinition of variables and hence solutions are not possible for arbitrary dimensions. However, the case of five dimensions turns out to be rather special in which case this can be reduced to a cubic equation and hence one can solve it exactly using ordinary algebraic methods and thus obtaining the infilling black hole geometries as exact functions of $`\alpha `$ and $`\beta `$ (or, $`T`$). This makes it possible to compute the corresponding actions of the two black holes exactly as functions of the boundary variables. We have found $`T_m`$ and $`T_c`$ as exact functions of cavity radius. The latter is an exact geometric statement for any regular Euclidean Schwarzschild-AdS metric. Other quantities of interest can be computed from the action and the solutions by using their standard definitions. These exact results therefore provide a basis for further dynamical and thermodynamical study and should find applications in brane-world cosmology, holography and other related issues of current interest and are left for future investigations.

## Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Gary Gibbons, Mahbub Majumdar and Danielle Oriti for useful discussions. This work is funded by the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge.


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# RHESSI Observations of a Simple Large X-ray Flare on 11-03-2003

## 1 Introduction

With its high temporal, spatial, spectral resolution and broad energy coverage, the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) has revealed many features of solar flares with unprecedented details (Lin et al. 2002). Since its launch on 5 February 2002, RHESSI has observed several X-class flares and thousands of mid-class and small flares. The compactness of microflares limits our access to details of the energy release and particle acceleration processes (Krucker et al. 2002). On the other hand large and well resolved flares usually involve multiple loops with complex structures and the looptop (LT) and associated footpoint (FP) sources are not readily identified and separated (Gallagher et al. 2002; Lin et al. 2003). This makes a direct comparison of theoretical models with observations a challenging task (Alexander & Metcalf 2002; Sui et al. 2002). This task would be easier for a large flare with a simple morphology, where one can identify source positions and evolutions with certainty (Tsuneta et al. 1992; Tsuneta 1996; Tsuneta et al. 1997).

In late October and early November 2003, RHESSI and other instruments observed a series of X-class flares from solar active regions AR 0486 and 0488 (reminiscence of the June 1991 flares of the previous solar cycle; Schmieder et al. 1994). Among these flares, we studied an event which occurred on November 3 in AR 0488 at heliographic coordinate N09 W77. Unlike other X-class flares, e.g. the April 21, 2002 flare (Gallagher et al. 2002) and the gamma-ray flare on July 23, 2002 (Lin et al. 2003), this flare shows a surprisingly simple morphology with well defined LT and two FP sources.

In this letter we present a brief description of the spatial evolution of the various emission regions of this flare. As we will show this provides an excellent example of the classical solar flare model of magnetic reconnection and energy release in an inverted Y magnetic field configuration (Kopp & Pneuman 1976; Forbes & Acton 1996; Aschwanden 2002), whereby reconnection in the oppositely directed field lines leads to particle acceleration near the LT. The energy release and particle acceleration processes are not well understood, nevertheless, it is expected that the reconnection will produce closed loops at lower altitudes first and progress to higher overlying loops as time advances. Consequently, the altitude of the LT source and the separation of the two FPs should increase with time. The flare studied here shows this exact behavior.

On the other hand, we also see evidence for deviations from the simplest reconnection models. Our study indicate that the reconnecting fields could be nonuniform and may have a shearing component. In the next section, we present the observations, data analysis, and our results. Their implications are discussed in § 3.

## 2 Observations and Data Analysis

The flare under study, classified as a GOES X3.9 class flare, was observed by RHESSI, Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), etc. Figure 1a shows the RHESSI light curves. In lower energy channels ($`<25`$ keV), the count rates started to rise at around 09:43 UT, peaked about nine minutes later, and then began a monotonic declining phase till 10:01:20 UT when RHESSI entered the Earth’s night region. The higher energy channel ($`>50`$ keV) light curves exhibit two broad impulsive bursts, each of them consisting of several pulses, with a more quiescent part in between, suggesting a persistent but episodic energy release process. Impulsive radio activities were also observed by the Nançay Observatory (Vilmer, private communication). A partial halo Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) with a speed of $`1375`$ km/s was observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph on SOHO.

To study the hard X-ray (HXR) source motion and structure, we obtained images at different energies in 20-second intervals from 09:46:20 through 10:01:00 UT using the CLEAN algorithm (Hurford et al. 2002) and front segments of detectors 3-8 to achieve a FWHM of $`9\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}8`$ with a $`0\stackrel{}{\mathrm{.}}5`$ pixel size. Figure 2 shows the HXR emission contours during the two main activity peaks. There are three sources: a LT, a Northern FP (N-FP), and a Southern FP (S-FP). The LT source dominates at lower energy while the FPs dominate the higher energy emission. As evident from the background pre-flare magnetogram obtained with the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI), the N-FP is around a negative magnetic polarity region while the S-FP remains in a region of positive polarity. Note that early in the event there is a partial overlap between the N-FP and the LT source. Grids with higher spatial resolution will not help for this flare because grid 2 has severely degraded conditions (Smith et al. 2002) and grid 1 will over-resolve the sources (See Schmahl & Hurford 2003 for technical details). A post-flare (10:35:43 UT) Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) 195 Å image (not shown) shows a loop structure which agrees well with the RHESSI sources.

As shown in Figure 2 the LT and FPs have well defined and correlated motions, with the symbols indicating their emission centroids at different times. The yellow dashed line represents the main direction of the LT motion, which is roughly at a right angle to the solar limb. We refer to the motion along this direction as changes in altitude. The motion perpendicular to this direction might be due to asymmetry of the reconnecting loops or LT motion along an arcade. Before the rise of impulsive HXR emission, there is an apparent downward LT motion. This downward motion could indicate a shrinkage of newly formed loops. It may also be due to formation of nearby sources (Krucker, Hurford, & Lin 2003), or due to projection effects should the LT source moves eastward along arcades of loops (Sato 2001). Qualitatively similar features have been seen in several other flares (Krucker et al. 2003; Sui & Holman 2003), suggesting that this may be a common characteristic of solar flares. However, for the remainder of the flare duration the LT source rises systematically. The apparent separation of the FP sources, whenever detectable, also increases with comparable speed. As emphasized above, this is expected in a simple continuous reconnection process which moves up to the corona, accelerating particles and energizing plasma higher up into overlying larger loops.

To analyze the FP motion quantitatively, one needs to take into account projection effects because any motion and its associated uncertainty in the east-west direction are amplified by a factor of about $`\mathrm{csc}77^{}4.4`$. Motions in this direction are highly uncertain and the motion of both FPs appears to have an east-west component. Magnetic reconnection, on the other hand, is characterized by the change in the size of newly formed loops rather than their absolute motions. Thus one may concentrate on the relative motion of the two conjugate FPs. In the insert panel of Figure 2, we illustrate this relative motion by fixing the S-FP at the origin of the coordinates and showing the relative locations of the N-FP. The relative motion is obviously systematic. The fact that the line tracing the location of the N-FP is not exactly aligned with the lines connecting the two FPs shows that there is another component of the relative motion introducing a small rotation of the plane containing the newly formed loop. Because this line is nearly parallel to the longitudinal line, one can ignore the projection affects. We will quantify the relative motion along this line and the standard deviation of the displacement (apparently) perpendicular to this line will be used as an upper limit for the uncertainties of this relative motion.

Figure 1b shows this relative motion of the FPs (in 50-71 keV) along with the location of the emission centroids of the LT source in three energy bands projected onto its main direction of motion. As evident, the two motions are correlated and the two set of data points are nearly parallel to each other indicating comparable velocities. To further investigate these motions we divide the observed flare duration into four phases: a pre-impulsive phase (before 09:48:10 UT) when there is no significant high energy HXR emission, a rising phase (from 09:48:10 to 09:49:50 UT), a declining phase (from 09:49:50 to 09:56:50 UT), and a second active phase (from 09:56:50 till 10:01:00 UT). We then fit straight lines to each segment and determine the corresponding average velocities. The results are summarized in Table 1. Surprisingly, the LT velocity is highest in the declining phase, when the X-ray emission is relatively weaker (Fig. 1c). In the simplest model of reconnection of uniform and oppositely directed magnetic fields, one would expect the opposite correlation, i.e. a higher rate of energy release when the velocity is larger. However, this would be true if the observed HXR flux were actually proportional to the total energy release and if reconnection were indeed occurring in a uniform background plasma, neither one of which is exactly true.

Another interesting morphological evolution is the change of the centroid of the LT source with energy. In Figure 3 we show the RHESSI $`75\%`$ contours and centroids at several energies superposed on an MDI continuum image showing sunspots. Compared with the two FPs, the LT source shows a clear and systematic displacement of the centroid of the higher energy emissions toward higher altitudes, as seen in two other flares (Sui & Holman 2003; Gallagher et al. 2002). To investigate what this separation of the LT centroids is related to, we looked for its correlations with other characteristics. We found an anti-correlation between the centroid separation and the high energy (100-300 keV) count rate, which comes mainly from the FPs (Fig. 1d). The continuous curve in Figure 4 shows their cross-correlation function, which gives a peak correlation coefficient of $`0.51\pm 0.08`$ with a time lag of $`\mathrm{\Delta }t=22\pm 39`$ s. The data points (LT separation vs HXR count rate) used for evaluating the correlation and a straight-line fit are also shown in the same figure.

## 3 Discussion

We have investigated the November 3, 2003 X3.9 flare, having a simple morphology with well defined LT and FP sources. The high flux combined with the simple loop structure allows us to determine the spatial evolution of the LT and FP sources clearly and to compare with the simple reconnection models. Similar studies of flares have been limited to the investigation of the motion of the FPs alone (Sakao, Kosugi & Masuda 1998; Qiu et al. 2002; Fletcher & Hudson 2002) or have dealt with complex loop structures (Krucker et al. 2003; Qiu, Lee & Gary 2003). This has made the comparison with models more difficult. Our analysis of RHESSI data has yielded several new and interesting results.

1. We observe a systematic rise of the LT source and a comparable increase in the separation of the FPs as the flare proceeds. This agrees very well with the canonical solar flare model of magnetic reconnection in an inverted Y configuration. Similar behaviors have been reported previously using soft X-ray or EUV observations (Švestka et al. 1987; Tsuneta et al. 1992; Gallagher et al. 2002) during later thermal gradual phases of flares. However, these emissions are not directly related to the impulsive particle acceleration processes (Forbes & Acton 1996).
2. The LT source seems to move more slowly during the HXR peaks than during the declining and more quiescent phases, in apparent disagreement with reconnection of uniform and oppositely directed field lines, where one would expect a correlation between the velocity of the LT source and the energy release rate. However, we note that the HXR flux is not a good proxy for the energy release rate and the magnetic fields in the reconnection region are likely to be nonuniform. Stronger magnetic fields would require smaller volume of reconnecting fields and possibly slower motion. However, in an inhomogeneous case other factors like the geometry and Alfvén velocity variation can also come into play. This problem needs further exploration.
3. The centroid of the LT source appears to be at higher altitudes for higher photon energies. This suggests that the energy releasing process happens above the LT and that harder spectra, implying more efficient acceleration, are produced at higher altitudes. In the stochastic acceleration model by turbulence where the acceleration efficiency depends on the intensity of turbulence, this would indicate a decrease of the intensity with decreasing altitudes, presumably due to decay of turbulence away from its source at a higher altitude.
4. The above shift of the centroids decreases with the increase of HXR flux from the FPs. Such an anti-correlation will be difficult to produce in simple models. In the above mentioned model, this would imply a more homogeneous distribution of turbulence during more active phases.

Acknowledgments

The work is supported by NASA grants NAG5-12111, NAG5 11918-1, and NSF grant ATM-0312344. We are indebted to S. Krucker for numerous help and for valuable comments as a referee. We also would like to thank T. Metcalf, G. Hurford for helpful discussions and suggestions, and are grateful to K. Tolbert, R. Schwartz, and J. McTiernan for their help with analyzing RHESSI data.