arXiv subjects

Davide Cassani

Publications and source records attributed to Davide Cassani.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Decoupling saddles of the gravitational index and the Farey tail

We first construct general saddles of the five-dimensional gravitational supersymmetric index with $S^1\times\mathbb{R}^4$ asymptotics, carrying an arbitrary number of electric charges and Gibbons-Hawking centers. We then uplift the three-charge configurations to type IIB supergravity, obtaining solutions asymptotic to $S^1\times \mathbb{R}^4\times S^1\times {\rm K}3$, carrying D1-D5-P charges. Upon taking a decoupling limit, these solutions yield asymptotically Euclidean AdS$_3\times S^3\times {\rm K}3$ candidate saddles of the dual CFT$_2$ elliptic genus. We focus on the two-center saddles, which involve three integers specifying an orbifold action. Depending on these integers, the saddles may or may not possess a Euclidean horizon, and may be smooth or exhibit orbifold singularities. We give the on-shell action of these two-center saddles in the appropriate ensemble and establish a precise match with the Farey-tail expansion of the elliptic genus. The horizonless saddles are the Euclidean version of fractional spectral-flow solutions previously discussed in the literature, corresponding to $({\rm AdS}_3\times S^3)/\mathbb{Z}_k$ orbifolds. The black hole saddles are modular images of the horizonless ones. They generalize the well-known ${\rm SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ family of BTZ black holes by placing it in the background of the $\mathbb{Z}_k$ orbifold. We also consider the asymptotically AdS$_3\times S^3$ solutions arising as decoupling limit of five-dimensional black ring and black lens saddles, provide their on-shell action and confirm that they do not contribute to the D1-D5 elliptic genus.

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arXiv2026

The black hole at the end of the cone: localizing the anomaly polynomial on toric geometries

We consider five-dimensional supergravity coupled to vector multiplets, gauged or ungauged, and propose an efficient method to evaluate the on-shell action of supersymmetric black saddle solutions with toric ${\rm U}(1)^3$ symmetry and general topology, explicitly known or just assumed to exist, including higher-derivative corrections. This is equivalent to equivariant integration of the anomaly polynomial six-form over simplicial cones obtained by decomposing the toric diagram of the solution. The on-shell action is then expressed as a sum over contributions localized at the tip of each cone. We obtain a simple derivation of recently calculated expressions as well as new predictions, both for the on-shell action of the black saddles and the Wald entropy of the related extremal solutions. These may be asymptotically AdS$_5$ or asymptotically flat. As examples, we discuss black holes, black rings and black lenses, including a black hole in the background of a topological soliton.

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arXiv2026

Gravitational index, black hole saddle degeneracy, and one-form symmetry

It is known that the saddle describing the contribution of supersymmetric black holes to the index of four-dimensional superconformal field theories is degenerate. This degeneracy is a consequence of the one-form symmetry of the theory, and can also be seen as a specific logarithmic correction to the saddle-point action. We discuss the gravitational realization of the one-form symmetry and of the index saddle degeneracy in different holographic setups. In order to illustrate the spontaneous breaking of the one-form symmetry at infinite volume, we employ a gravitational realization of the Cardy-like limit of small chemical potentials where the black hole decompactifies into a black brane.

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arXiv2025

Bubbling saddles of the gravitational index

We consider the five-dimensional supergravity path integral that computes a supersymmetric index, and uncover a wealth of semiclassical saddles with bubbling topology. These are complex finite-temperature configurations asymptotic to $S^1\times\mathbb{R}^4$, solving the supersymmetry equations. We assume a ${\rm U}(1)^3$ symmetry given by the thermal isometry and two rotations, and present a general construction based on a rod structure specifying the fixed loci of the ${\rm U}(1)$ isometries and their three-dimensional topology. These fixed loci may correspond to multiple horizons or three-dimensional bubbles, and they may have $S^3$, $S^2\times S^1$, or lens space topology. Allowing for conical singularities gives additional topologies involving spindles and branched spheres or branched lens spaces. As a particularly significant example, we analyze in detail the configurations with a horizon and a bubble just outside of it. We determine the possible saddle-point contribution of these configurations to the gravitational index by evaluating their on-shell action and the relevant thermodynamic relations. We also spell out two limits leading to well-defined Lorentzian solutions. The first is the extremal limit, which gives the known BPS black ring and black lens solutions. The on-shell action and chemical potentials remain well-defined in this limit and should thus provide the contribution of the black ring and black lens to the gravitational index. The second is a limit leading to horizonless bubbling solutions, which have purely imaginary action.

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arXiv2025

Quantum black holes: supersymmetry and exact results

The explanation of black hole entropy as statistical entropy is one of the big successes of string theory. In this article we review recent progress in this subject, focussing on understanding quantum effects on black hole entropy. Supersymmetry plays a key role in these developments and leads to prototype systems where we can discuss quantum effects to great precision. Our discussion has two strands, both of which involve the gravitational path integral that calculates the supersymmetric index. In the first strand we discuss supersymmetric black holes in the microcanonical ensemble, which are decoupled from the environment and can be treated as independent quantum systems. Using methods of supersymmetric localization one can arrive at the integer quantum degeneracies of such systems purely in terms of the gravitational variables. In the second strand we consider grand-canonical ensembles in gravity in which black holes arise as a finite-action excitation in asymptotically flat or Anti de Sitter space. In this context we discuss the saddle-points of the gravitational index, and how they reproduce the black hole action and entropy that agree with the index of the holographic superconformal field theory even beyond the leading order in the semiclassical approximation. Finally we discuss how the gravitational index informs us about the detailed structure of the non-perturbative sum over saddle points and the resulting phases of the theory. Throughout, we try to highlight the central role played by the methods as well as foundational concepts of supergravity in driving these developments.

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arXiv2024

Localization of the 5D supergravity action and Euclidean saddles for the black hole index

We investigate equivariant localization of the gravitational on-shell action in odd dimensions, focusing on five-dimensional ungauged supergravity. We analyze the conditions for cancellation of boundary terms, so that the full action integral is given in terms of the odd-dimensional analog of the nuts and bolts of Gibbons-Hawking. We specialize to supersymmetric configurations with an additional ${\rm U}(1)$ symmetry preserving the supercharge and provide a formula for the localized on-shell action. We construct asymptotically flat Euclidean supersymmetric non-extremal solutions with two independent rotations and an arbitrary number of electric charges, providing black hole saddles of the gravitational path integral that computes a supersymmetric index, and evaluate their action equivariantly. We find that these Euclidean saddles interpolate between supersymmetric extremal black holes and two-center horizonless microstate geometries. The interpolation involves dialing the temperature and implementing different analytic continuations. The corresponding on-shell action does not depend on temperature but is affected by the analytic continuations.

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arXiv2024

Higher-derivative corrections to flavoured BPS black hole thermodynamics and holography

A Cardy-like regime of the four-dimensional superconformal index has been shown to be governed by 't Hooft anomalies and to single out a large-$N$ saddle carrying the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of dual supersymmetric black holes in AdS$_5$. For the universal index where no flavour fugacities are turned on, this correspondence has been improved by matching the first subleading corrections to the saddle-point action with the four-derivative corrections to the black hole action in minimal gauged supergravity, as well as the respective corrected entropies. Here, we extend this match by including flavour symmetries. We consider five-dimensional gauged supergravity with vector multiplet and four-derivative couplings, and provide an effective theory reproducing the 't Hooft anomalies of the R- and flavour symmetries of generic holographic superconformal field theories at next-to-leading order in the large-$N$ expansion. Then we focus on a specific model dual to $\mathbb{C}^3/\mathbb{Z}_ν$ quiver gauge theories, where the 't Hooft anomaly coefficients receive simple but sufficiently generic corrections. In this model, we evaluate the four-derivative corrections to the on-shell action of the supersymmetric multi-charge black hole, showing agreement with the flavoured Cardy-like formula from the index. We give a prediction for the corrected entropy of the supersymmetric black hole and discuss the general validity of our results. Taking the limit of infinite AdS$_5$ radius, we also obtain four-derivative corrections to the action and entropy of supersymmetric asymptotically flat black holes.

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arXiv2023

Boundary terms and conserved charges in higher-derivative gauged supergravity

We address some issues in higher-derivative gauged supergravity with Chern-Simons terms, focusing on the five-dimensional case. We discuss the variational problem with Dirichlet boundary conditions as well as holographic renormalization in asymptotically locally AdS spacetimes, and derive the corresponding boundary terms. We then employ Wald's formalism in order to define conserved charges associated to local symmetries (diffeomorphisms and U(1) gauge transformations), taking into account the effect of generic gauge Chern-Simons terms. We prove that the first law of black hole mechanics and the quantum statistical relation hold in this setup. Chern-Simons terms also lead us to distinguish between Noether charges and Page (or Komar) charges which satisfy the Gauss law. We make use of the latter to compute corrections to the angular momentum and electric charge of the supersymmetric black hole in AdS$_5$ from its corrected near-horizon geometry. This also allows us to derive the microcanonical form of the entropy as a function of the conserved charges relying entirely on the near-horizon geometry. Finally, we comment on four-derivative gauged supergravity in four dimensions, showing that field redefinitions permit to simplify the action at linear order in the corrections, so that the equations of motion are those of the two-derivative theory.

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arXiv2022

Corrections to AdS$_5$ Black Hole Thermodynamics from Higher-Derivative Supergravity

We study four-derivative corrections to five-dimensional minimal gauged supergravity. We evaluate the on-shell action of the AdS$_5$ black hole solution with two independent angular momenta and one electric charge at linear order in the corrections. After imposing supersymmetry, we are able to recast the action in terms of the supersymmetric chemical potentials and match the result obtained from the dual superconformal index on the second sheet. To achieve this, we exploit the freedom to implement field redefinitions to recast the action in a much simpler form, as well as the fact that the two-derivative solution is enough. We use the on-shell action to determine the corrections to the black hole thermodynamics, including those to the entropy and the charges. We then specialize to the supersymmetric and extremal case and find a simple expression for the microcanonical entropy. In particular, for the case with one independent angular momentum the corrections are entirely encoded in the dual superconformal anomaly coefficients. We corroborate this result for the entropy by constructing the corrected near-horizon solution and applying Wald's formula.

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arXiv2022

Bubble instability of mIIA on $\mathrm{AdS}_4\times S^6$

We consider compactifications of massive IIA supergravity on a six-sphere. This setup is known to give rise to non-supersymmetric AdS$_4$ vacua preserving SO$(7)$ as well as G$_2$ residual symmetry. Both solutions have a round $S^6$ metric and are supported by the Romans' mass and internal $F_6$ flux. While the SO$(7)$ invariant vacuum is known to be perturbatively unstable, the G$_2$ invariant one has been found to have a fully stable Kaluza-Klein spectrum. Moreover, it has been shown to be protected against brane-jet instabilities. Motivated by these results, we study possible bubbling solutions connected to the G$_2$ vacuum, representing non-perturbative instabilities of the latter. We indeed find an instability channel represented by the nucleation of a bubble of nothing dressed up with a homogeneous D2 brane charge distribution in the internal space. Our solution generalizes to the case where $S^6$ is replaced by any six-dimensional nearly-Kähler manifold.

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arXiv2021

Thermodynamics of accelerating and supersymmetric $AdS_4$ black holes

We study the thermodynamics of $AdS_4$ black hole solutions of Einstein-Maxwell theory that are accelerating, rotating, and carry electric and magnetic charges. We focus on the class for which the black hole horizon is a spindle and can be uplifted on regular Sasaki-Einstein spaces to give solutions of $D=11$ supergravity that are free from conical singularities. We use holography to calculate the Euclidean on-shell action and to define a set of conserved charges which give rise to a first law. We identify a complex locus of supersymmetric and non-extremal solutions, defined through an analytic continuation of the parameters, upon which we obtain a simple expression for the on-shell action. A Legendre transform of this action combined with a reality constraint then leads to the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy for the class of supersymmetric and extremal black holes.

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arXiv2021

$\mathcal{N}=2$ consistent truncations from wrapped M5-branes

We discuss consistent truncations of eleven-dimensional supergravity on a six-dimensional manifold $M$, preserving minimal $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetry in five dimensions. These are based on $G_S \subseteq USp(6)$ structures for the generalised $E_{6(6)}$ tangent bundle on $M$, such that the intrinsic torsion is a constant $G_S$ singlet. We spell out the algorithm defining the full bosonic truncation ansatz and then apply this formalism to consistent truncations that contain warped AdS$_5 \times_{\rm w}M$ solutions arising from M5-branes wrapped on a Riemann surface. The generalised $U(1)$ structure associated with the $\mathcal{N}=2$ solution of Maldacena-Nuñez leads to five-dimensional supergravity with four vector multiplets, one hypermultiplet and $SO(3)\times U(1)\times \mathbb{R}$ gauge group. The generalised structure associated with "BBBW" solutions yields two vector multiplets, one hypermultiplet and an abelian gauging. We argue that these are the most general consistent truncations on such backgrounds.

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arXiv2021

EFT and the SUSY Index on the 2nd Sheet

The counting of BPS states in four-dimensional ${\cal N}=1$ theories has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. For superconformal theories, these states are in one-to-one correspondence with local operators in various short representations. The generating function for this counting problem has branch cuts and hence several Cardy-like limits, which are analogous to high-temperature limits. Particularly interesting is the second sheet, which has been shown to capture the microstates and phases of supersymmetric black holes in AdS$_5$. Here we present a 3d Effective Field Theory (EFT) approach to the high-temperature limit on the second sheet. We use the EFT to derive the behavior of the index at orders $β^{-2},β^{-1},β^0$. We also make a conjecture for $O(β)$, where we argue that the expansion truncates up to exponentially small corrections. An important point is the existence of vector multiplet zero modes, unaccompanied by massless matter fields. The runaway of Affleck-Harvey-Witten is however avoided by a non-perturbative confinement mechanism. This confinement mechanism guarantees that our results are robust.

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arXiv2021

The asymptotic growth of states of the 4d N=1 superconformal index

We show that the superconformal index of N=1 superconformal field theories in four dimensions has an asymptotic growth of states which is exponential in the charges. Our analysis holds in a Cardy-like limit of large charges, for which the index is dominated by small values of chemical potentials. In this limit we find the saddle points of the integral that defines the superconformal index using two different methods. One method, valid for finite N, is to first take the Cardy-like limit and then find the saddle points. The other method is to analyze the saddle points at large N and then take the Cardy-like limit. The result of both analyses is that the asymptotic growth of states of the superconformal index exactly agrees with the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of supersymmetric black holes in the dual AdS$_5$ theory.

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arXiv2020

The large-$N$ limit of the 4d $\mathcal{N}=1$ superconformal index

We systematically analyze the large-$N$ limit of the superconformal index of $\mathcal{N}=1$ superconformal theories having a quiver description. The index of these theories is known in terms of unitary matrix integrals, which we calculate using the recently-developed technique of elliptic extension. This technique allows us to easily evaluate the integral as a sum over saddle points of an effective action in the limit where the rank of the gauge group is infinite. For a generic quiver theory under consideration, we find a special family of saddles whose effective action takes a universal form controlled by the anomaly coefficients of the theory. This family includes the known supersymmetric black hole solution in the holographically dual AdS$_5$ theories. We then analyze the index refined by turning on flavor chemical potentials. We show that, for a certain range of chemical potentials, the effective action again takes a universal cubic form that is controlled by the anomaly coefficients of the theory. Finally, we present a large class of solutions to the saddle-point equations which are labelled by group homomorphisms of finite abelian groups of order $N$ into the torus.

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arXiv2019

Microscopic origin of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of supersymmetric AdS$_{\bf 5}$ black holes

We present a holographic derivation of the entropy of supersymmetric asymptotically AdS$_5$ black holes. We define a BPS limit of black hole thermodynamics by first focussing on a supersymmetric family of complexified solutions and then reaching extremality. We show that in this limit the black hole entropy is the Legendre transform of the on-shell gravitational action with respect to three chemical potentials subject to a constraint. This constraint follows from supersymmetry and regularity in the Euclidean bulk geometry. Further, we calculate, using localization, the exact partition function of the dual $\mathcal{N}=1$ SCFT on a twisted $S^1\times S^3$ with complexified chemical potentials obeying this constraint. This defines a generalization of the supersymmetric Casimir energy, whose Legendre transform at large $N$ exactly reproduces the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of the black hole.

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arXiv2019

The BPS limit of rotating AdS black hole thermodynamics

We consider rotating, electrically charged, supersymmetric AdS black holes in four, five, six and seven dimensions, and provide a derivation of the respective extremization principles stating that the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy is the Legendre transform of a homogeneous function of chemical potentials, subject to a complex constraint. Extending a recently proposed BPS limit, we start from finite temperature and reach extremality following a supersymmetric trajectory in the space of complexified solutions. We show that the entropy function is the supergravity on-shell action in this limit. Chemical potentials satisfying the extremization equations also emerge from the complexified solution.

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arXiv2019

Systematics of consistent truncations from generalised geometry

We present a generalised geometry framework for systematically constructing consistent truncations of ten- and eleven-dimensional supergravity preserving varying fractions of supersymmetry. Truncations arise when there is a reduced structure group $G_S$ of the exceptional generalised geometry, such that the intrinsic torsion is a $G_S$-singlet. The matter content of the truncated theory follows from group-theoretical arguments, while the gauging is determined by the sub-algebra of generalised diffeomorphisms generated by the $G_S$-singlet vectors. After discussing the general ideas across different spacetime dimensions and amounts of supersymmetry, we provide detailed formulae for truncations to gauged half-maximal supergravity in five dimensions. In particular, we establish an expression for the generalised metric on the exceptional tangent bundle, which determines the scalar truncation ansatz. As applications, we show that this formalism gives a simple derivation of a new consistent truncation of type IIB supergravity on $β$-deformed Lunin-Maldacena geometries, yielding half-maximal supergravity coupled to two vector multiplets, and of the truncation of eleven-dimensional supergravity on Maldacena-Núñez geometries, given by $S^4$ twisted over a Riemann surface, which leads to half-maximal supergravity coupled to three vector multiplets.

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