From Special Geometry to Black Hole Partition Functions

These notes are based on lectures given at the Erwin-Schrödinger Institut in Vienna in 2006/2007 and at the 2007 School on Attractor Mechanism in Frascati. Lecture I reviews special geometry from the superconformal point of view. Lecture II discusses the black hole attractor mechanism, the underlying variational principle and black hole partition functions. Lecture III applies the formalism introduced in the previous lectures to large and small BPS black holes in N = 4 supergravity. Lecture IV is devoted to the microscopic desription of these black holes in N = 4 string compactifications. The lecture notes include problems which allow the readers to develop some of the key ideas by themselves. Appendix A reviews special geometry from the mathematical point of view. Appendix B provides the necessary background in modular forms needed for understanding S-duality and string state counting.