On Thermodynamical Properties of Some Coset CFT Backgrounds

Abstract

We investigate the thermodynamical features of two Lorentzian signature backgrounds that arise in string theory as exact CFTs and possess more than two disconnected asymptotic regions: the 2-d charged black hole and the Nappi-Witten cosmological model. We find multiple smooth disconnected Euclidean versions of the charged black hole background. They are characterized by different temperatures and electro-chemical potentials. We show that there is no straightforward analog of the Hartle-Hawking state that would express these thermodynamical features. We also obtain multiple Euclidean versions of the Nappi-Witten cosmological model and study their singularity structure. It suggests to associate a non-isotropic temperature with this background.

1+39 pages, harvmac, 8 eps figures