arXiv subjects

Krishnakanta Bhattacharya

Publications and source records attributed to Krishnakanta Bhattacharya.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Entropic route to Brown-York tensor: A unified framework for null and timelike hypersurfaces

Building on Padmanabhan's entropy functional, originally introduced to derive Einstein's equations and highlight the emergent nature of gravity, we demonstrate its robustness in a broader context. Using the same entropy density, we show that the Brown-York tensor is associated with a tangential projection of the entropy-functional polymomentum, thereby providing a common construction applicable to both timelike and null hypersurfaces. This perspective places the two (null and timelike) cases on the same variational footing and clarifies the structural differences of the null Brown-York tensor, including its generally non-symmetric character, without resorting to separate or ad hoc prescriptions in the formulation. We further extend the analysis to scalar-tensor theories, showing that the entropy-based formulation reproduces the expected equations of motion along with the corresponding BY tensor. Our results provide a coherent variational interpretation of quasi-local gravitational quantities and reveal a common underlying structure linking bulk dynamics and boundary momentum.

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arXiv2026

Generalized First Law and Smarr Formula: Beyond Additivity and Extensivity

The study of black hole thermodynamics becomes a central topic in gravitational physics, where the first law and the Smarr relation establish a deep connection between spacetime geometry and thermodynamic laws. As we know, these relations depend on the entropy; any modification to the entropy arising from quantum gravity or generalized statistical mechanics may impact the basic thermodynamic framework of black holes. In this work, we develop a general framework for deriving the first law of black hole thermodynamics and the associated Smarr relation for generic spherically symmetric spacetime under a wide class of generalized entropy models. In addition, a generalized Ruppeiner thermodynamic geometry is developed to utilize the generalized entropy model, from which the curvature scalar is determined in a general form. To demonstrate this framework, we assume the Resinser-Nordström black hole and investigate the corresponding extremal and non-extremal phase transition. Interestingly, our analysis reveals that entropy models consistent with the Abè-type composition rule result in a vanishing thermodynamic curvature, whereas violations of this rule exhibit curvature divergences, suggesting a geometric test for the consistency of generalized entropy models.

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arXiv2026

Chaotic Dynamics in Extremal Black Holes: A Challenge to the Chaos Bound

We investigate chaotic dynamics in extremal black holes by analyzing the motion of massless particles in both Reissner-Nordström and Kerr geometries. Two complementary approaches (i) taking the extremal limit of non-extremal solutions and (ii) working directly in the extremal background, yield consistent results. We find that, contrary to naive extrapolation of the Maldacena-Shenker-Stanford (MSS) chaos bound, the Lyapunov exponent remains positive even at zero temperature. For Reissner-Nordström black holes, chaos diminishes but persists at extremality, while for Kerr black holes it strengthens with increasing spin. These results demonstrate that extremal black holes exhibit residual chaotic dynamics that violate the MSS bound, establishing them as qualitatively distinct dynamical phases of gravity.

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arXiv2025

A note on gravity and fluid dynamic correspondence on a null hypersurface

In the extensive literature on fluid-gravity correspondence formulated on null hypersurfaces, the Carrollian and membrane paradigm approaches have predominantly employed a timelike foliation. By contrast, within the null foliation formalism, only the momentum conservation law, expressed through the Damour-Navier-Stokes (DNS) equation, has been established. In this work, we revisit the null foliation formalism for a generic null hypersurface and extend it to include the energy conservation law, continuity equation, and related relations, all derived from the covariant conservation of an appropriately defined energy-momentum tensor. This development complements the existing literature on the fluid description of gravitational dynamics in the null foliation framework.

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arXiv2025

Thermodynamic analysis of black holes with cloud of strings and quintessence via Barrow entropy

We explore a Reissner-Nordström Anti-de Sitter (RN-AdS) black hole with a cloud of string and quintessence to study thermodynamics and thermodynamic topology in the presence of Barrow entropy, which is currently being used widely as the horizon of a black hole may not be a smooth surface as described in classical general relativity but instead could have a more intricate fractal-like structure. Here, we study the impact of the fractal correction parameter of Barrow entropy on the thermodynamics of such BHs. We compute the first law of black hole thermodynamics and the Smarr relation for RN-AdS black hole with a cloud of string and quintessence in terms of Barrow entropy by employing the generalized formula for spherically symmetric spacetime which is directly derived from the Einstein field equation. The significance of Barrow entropy has been verified from thermodynamic topology as well. We also found that the non-zero topological charge indicates the presence of the critical point.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Scalar-tensor theories of gravity from a thermodynamic viewpoint

In any diffeomorphism invariant theory of gravity, one can define a Noether charge arising from the invariance of the Lagrangian under diffeomorphisms. We have determined the Noether charge for scalar-tensor theories of gravity, in which case the gravity is mediated by the metric tensor as well as by a scalar degree of freedom. In particular, we demonstrate that the total Noether charge within an appropriate spatial volume can be related to the heat content of the boundary surface. For static spacetimes, in these theories, there exist an ``equipartition" between properly defined bulk and surface degrees of freedom. While the dynamical evolution of spacetime in these theories of scalar-tensor gravity arises due to the departure from the equipartition regime. These results demonstrate that thermodynamical interpretations for gravitational theories transcend Einstein and Lovelock theories of gravity, holding true for theories with additional scalar degrees of freedom as well. Moreover, they hold in both the Jordan and the Einstein frames. However, it turns out that there are two dynamically equivalent representations of the scalar-tensor theory in the Jordan frame, differing by total derivatives in the action, which are thermodynamically inequivalent. This depicts the importance of having a thermodynamic description, which can be used in distinguishing various dynamically equivalent representations of gravity theories beyond Einstein.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Topological interpretation of extremal and Davies-type phase transitions of black holes

Topological arguments are currently being used as a novel scheme to discern the properties of black holes while ignoring their detailed structure and specific field equations. Among various avenues of black hole physics, where this novel approach is being utilized, the phase transition in black hole thermodynamics lies at the forefront. There are several types of phase transition in black holes; such as the van der Waals type phase transition, Davies-type phase transition, extremal phase transition, and Hawking-Page (HP) transition. So far, the topological interpretation, where the critical point has been identified with the non-zero topological charge, has been obtained only for the van der Waals type phase transition and HP transition in different spacetimes. To complete the picture, here we provide the same interpretation for two other phase transitions: Davies-type phase transition and extremal phase transition. The entire analysis is general and is valid for any spacetime where these types of phase transitions are observed. More importantly, our analysis suggests that amid the apparent differences in these phase transitions, they share the same topological characteristics, \textit{i.e.} non-zero topological charge arising from different thermodynamic potentials in different types of phase transition.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2024

Boundary terms and Brown-York quasi-local parameters for scalar-tensor theory: a study on both timelike and null hypersurfaces

Boundary term and Brown-York (BY) formalism, which is based on the Hamilton-Jacobi principle, are complimentary of each other as the gravitational actions are not, usually, well-posed. In scalar-tensor theory, which is an important alternative to GR, it has been shown that this complementarity becomes even more crucial in establishing the equivalence of the BY quasi-local parameters in the two frames which are conformally connected. Furthermore, Brown-York tensor and the corresponding quasi-local parameters are important from two important yet different aspects of gravitational theories: black hole thermodynamics and fluid-gravity correspondence. The investigation suggests that while the two frames are equivalent from the thermodynamic viewpoints, they are not equivalent from the perspective of fluid-gravity analogy or the membrane paradigm. In addition, the null boundary term and null Brown-York formalism are the recent developments (so far obtained only for GR) which is non-trivial owing to the degeneracy of the null surface. In the present analysis these are extended for scalar-tensor theory. The present analysis also suggests that, regarding the equivalence (or inequivalence) of the two frame, the null formalism draws the same inferences as of the timelike case, which in turn establishes the consistency of the newly developed null Brown-York formalism.

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arXiv2023

Extended phase space thermodynamics of black holes: A study in Einstein's gravity and beyond

In the extended phase space approach, one can define thermodynamic pressure and volume that gives rise to the van der Waals type phase transition for black holes. For Einstein's GR, the expressions of these quantities are unanimously accepted. Of late, the van der Waals phase transition in black holes has been found in modified theories of gravity as well, such as the $f(R)$ gravity and the scalar-tensor gravity. However, in the case of these modified theories of gravity, the expression of pressure (and, hence, volume) is not uniquely determined. In addition, for these modified theories, the extended phase space thermodynamics has not been studied extensively, especially in a covariant way. Since both the scalar-tensor and the $f(R)$ gravity can be discussed in the two conformally connected frames (the Jordan and the Einstein frame respectively), the arbitrariness in the expression of pressure, will act upon the equivalence of the thermodynamic parameters in the two frames. We highlight these issues in the paper. Before that, in Einstein's gravity (GR), we obtain a general expression of the equilibrium state version of first law and the Smarr-like formula from the Einstein's equation for a general static and spherically symmetric (SSS) metric. Here we directly obtain the first law as well as the Smarr-like formula in GR in terms of the parameters present in the metric (such as mass, charge \textit{etc.}). This study also shows how the extended phase space is formulated (by considering the cosmological constant as variable) and, also shows why the cosmological constant plays the role of thermodynamic pressure in GR in extended phase space. Moreover, obtaining the Smarr formula from the Einstein's equation for the SSS metric suggests that this dynamical equation encodes more information on BH thermodynamics than what has been anticipated before.

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arXiv2022

Scalar-tensor gravity from thermodynamic and fluid-gravity perspective

Out of several possible extensions of general relativity, the scalar-tensor theory is the most popular for several reasons. Since the quantum description of gravity is yet to be formulated properly, the understanding of a gravitational theory remains incomplete until the study of thermodynamic and fluid-gravity aspects, which provides an alternative viewpoint to understand the gravitational theory. In this review, we study these features (thermodynamics and the fluid gravity analogy) in a rigorous and yet in a concise manner for the scalar-tensor gravity, which has been revealed in our recent works. In addition, the issue of conformally connected frames (\textit{i.e.} whether the two frames, which are conformally related are physically equivalent) has been explored in an explicit manner at the action level as well as from the viewpoint of thermodynamics and fluid-gravity correspondence.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

A novel probe of Einstein-Hilbert action: Dynamic upgradation of metric parameters

The Einstein-Hilbert (EH) action is peculiar in many ways. Some of the Peculiar features have already been highlighted in literature. In the present article, we have discussed some peculiar features of EH action which has not been discussed earlier. It is well-known that there are several ways of decomposing the EH action into the bulk and the surface part with different underlying motivations. We provide a review on all of these decompositions. Then, we attempt to study the static coordinate as a limiting case of a time-dependent coordinate via dynamic upgradation of the constant metric parameters. Firstly, we study the consequences when the constant parameters, present in a static and spherically symmetric (SSS) metric, are promoted to the time dependent variables, which allows us to incorporate the time-dependence in the static coordinate. We find that, in every sets of decomposition, the expression of the bulk term remains invariant, whereas the surface term changes by a total derivative term. Finally, when we obliterate the time dependence of the metric parameters, we find that the expression of the Ricci-scalar (or the EH action) does not go back to its original value. Instead, we find that the curvature becomes singular on the horizon, which implies a topological change from the original spacetime.

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arXiv2021

Thermodynamic structure of a generic null surface and the zeroth law in scalar-tensor theory

We show that the equation of motion of scalar-tensor theory acquires thermodynamic identity when projected on a generic null surface. The relevant projection is given by $E_{ab}l^ak^b$, where $E_{ab} =8πT_{ab}^{(m)}$ represents the equation motion for gravitational field in presence of external matter, $l^a$ is the generator of the null surface and $k^a$ is the corresponding auxiliary null vector. Our analysis is done completely in a covariant way. Therefore all the thermodynamic quantities are in covariant form and hence can be used for any specific form of metric adapted to a null surface. We show this both in Einstein and Jordan frames and find that these two frames provide equivalent thermodynamic quantities. This is consistent with the previous findings for a Killing horizon. Also, a concrete proof of the zeroth law in scalar-tensor theory is provided when the null surface is defined by a Killing vector.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

The Life and Science of Thanu Padmanabhan

Thanu Padmanabhan was a renowned Indian theoretical physicist known for his research in general relativity, cosmology, and quantum gravity. In an extraordinary career spanning forty-two years, he published more than three hundred research articles, wrote ten highly successful technical and popular books, and mentored nearly thirty graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. He is best known for his deep work investigating gravitation as an emergent thermodynamic phenomenon. He was an outstanding teacher, and an indefatigable populariser of science, who travelled very widely to motivate and inspire young students. Paddy, as he was affectionately known, was also a close friend to his students and collaborators, treating them as part of his extended academic family. On September 17, 2021 Paddy passed away very unexpectedly, at the age of sixty-four and at the height of his research career, while serving as a Distinguished Professor at the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune. His untimely demise has come as a shock to his family and friends and colleagues. In this article, several of them have come together to pay their tributes and share their fond memories of Paddy.

physics.hist-ph↗

arXiv2020

Fluid-gravity correspondence in the scalar-tensor theory of gravity: (in)equivalence of Einstein and Jordan frames

The duality of gravitational dynamics (projected on a null hypersurface) and of fluid dynamics is investigated for the scalar tensor (ST) theory of gravity. The description of ST gravity, in both Einstein and Jordan frames, is analyzed from fluid-gravity viewpoint. In the Einstein frame the dynamical equation for the metric leads to the Damour-Navier-Stokes (DNS) equation with an external forcing term, coming from the scalar field in ST gravity. In the Jordan frame the situation is more subtle. We observe that finding the DNS equation in this frame can lead to two pictures. In one picture, the usual DNS equation is modified by a Coriolis-like force term, which originates completely from the presence of a non-minimally coupled scalar field ($ϕ$) on the gravity side. Moreover, the identified fluid variables are no longer conformally equivalent with those in the Einstein frame. However, this picture is consistent with the saturation of Kovtun-Son-Starinets (KSS) bound. In the other picture, we find the standard DNS equation (i.e. without the Coriolis-like force), with the fluid variables conformally equivalent with those in Einstein frame. But, the second picture, may not agree with the KSS bound for some values of $ϕ$. We conclude by rewriting the Raychaudhuri equation and the tidal force equation in terms of the relevant parameters to demonstrate how the expansion scalar and the shear-tensor evolve in the spacetime. Although, the area law of entropy is broken in ST gravity, we show that the rewritten form of Raychaudhuri's equation correctly results in the generalized second law of black hole thermodynamics.

hep-th↗

arXiv2020

Thermogeometric study of van der Waals like phase transition in black holes: an alternative approach

It is well-known that the non-extremal anti-de-Sitter (AdS) black holes show various van der Waals type criticalities, such as the $P-V$, $T-S$, $Y-X$, $Q^2-Ψ$ etc. In these cases, the phase space diagram of the relevant quantities are similar in behaviour to the isotherms on $P-V$ diagram for the usual van der Waals gas system. The existing thermogeometric descriptions of these criticalities for the black holes deal with the whole thermogeometric manifold and its curvature. However, while observing the criticality, one only notices the behaviour of the relevant phase space variables and keep all other thermodynamic quantities as fixed. Therefore it is quite natural to investigate the geometrical behaviour of the induced metric, defined by these constant macroscopic variables, corresponding to the whole manifold of the thermogeometry. Using geometrothermodynamics (GTD), we precisely address this issue. It is observed that the extrinsic curvature of this induced metric also diverges at the critical point. This provides an alternative but important aspect of the thermogeometric description of phase transition of black holes. The entire formalism in this paper is very general as it is valid for any arbitrary black hole which shows the van der Waals type phase transition.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

A general framework to study the extremal phase transition of black holes

We investigate the universality of some features for the extremal phase transition of black holes and unify all the approaches which have been applied in different spacetimes. Unlike the other existing approaches where the information of the spacetime and its dimension is directly used to get various results, we provide a general formulation in which those results are obtained for any arbitrary black hole spacetime having an extremal limit. Calculating the second order moments of fluctuations of some thermodynamic quantities we show that, the phase transition occurs only in the microcanonical ensemble. Without considering any specific black hole we calculate the values of critical exponents for this type of phase transition. These are shown to be in agreement with the values obtained earlier for metric specified cases. Finally we extend our analysis to the geometrothermodynamics (henceforth GTD) formulation. We show that for any black hole, if there is an extremal point, the Ricci scalar for the Ruppeiner metric must diverge at that point.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Abbott-Deser-Tekin like conserved quantities in Lanczos-Lovelock gravity: beyond Killing diffeomorphisms

We obtain the conserved Abbott-Deser-Tekin (ADT)-{\it like} current for the Lanczos-Lovelock gravity for a diffeomorphism vector, which defines the horizon of a spacetime and, importantly, is not necessarily a Killing vector. As the original ADT current is defined only for the presence of a background Killing vector, one cannot use it extensively for the thermodynamic description of the wide classes of non-Killing horizons which appear in gravity. On the other hand, this general approach can be utilized for those horizons. Here, the conserved current can be written as the derivative of the two-rank anti-symmetric potential, the connection of which is apparent with the conserved Noether potential from our analysis. If one assumes the diffeomorphism vector as the Killing one, the results match to the ADT case, whereas non-trivial result comes for the conformal Killing vectors and other horizon defining diffeomorphism vectors.

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arXiv2018

Noncommutative Heisenberg algebra in the neighbourhood of a generic null surface

We show that the diffeomorphisms, which preserve the null nature for a generic null metric very near to the null surface, provide {\it noncommutative} Heisenberg algebra. This is the generalization of the earlier work (Phys. Rev. D95, 044020 (2017)) \cite{Majhi:2017fua}, done for the Rindler horizon. The present analysis revels that the algebra is very general as it is obtained for a generic null surface and is applicable for any spacetime horizon. Finally using these results, the entropy of the null surface is derived in the form of the Cardy formula. Our analysis is completely {\it off-shell} as no equation of motion is used. We believe present discussion can illuminate the paradigm of `gravity as an emergent phenomenon' and could be a candidate to probe the origin of gravitational entropy.

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