Lectures ∗ on Black Holes , Topological Strings and Quantum Attractors ( 2 . 0 )

In these lecture notes, we review some recent developments on the relation between the macroscopic entropy of four-dimensional BPS black holes and the microscopic counting of states, beyond the thermodynamical, large charge limit. After a brief overview of charged black holes in supergravity and string theory, we give an extensive introduction to special and very special geometry, attractor flows and topological string theory, including holomorphic anomalies. We then expose the Ooguri-Strominger-Vafa (OSV) conjecture which relates microscopic degeneracies to the topological string amplitude, and review precision tests of this formula on “small” black holes. Finally, motivated by a holographic interpretation of the OSV conjecture, we give a systematic approach to the radial quantization of BPS black holes (i.e. quantum attractors). This suggests the existence of a one-parameter generalization of the topological string amplitude, and provides a general framework for constructing automorphic partition functions for black hole degeneracies in theories with sufficient degree of symmetry. Lectures delivered at the RTNWinter School on Strings, Supergravity and Gauge theories, (CERN, January 16-20, 2006), the 11-th APCTP/KIAS String Winter School (Pohang, Feb 8-15 2005) and the Winter School on the Attractor Mechanism (Frascati, March 20-24, 2006). Updated, Feb. 2007 Unité mixte de recherche du CNRS UMR 7589 Unité mixte de recherche du CNRS UMR 8549