Lectures on black holes and the AdS_3 / CFT_2 correspondence

Abstract

We present a detailed discussion of AdS_3 black holes and their connection to two-dimensional conformal field theories via the AdS/CFT correspondence. Our emphasis is on deriving refined versions of black hole partition functions, that include the effect of higher derivative terms in the spacetime action as well as non-perturbative effects. We include background material on gravity in AdS_3, in the context of holographic renormalization.

55 pages. Lectures presented at the Winter School on the Attractor Mechanism (Frascati, March 20-24, 2006). v2: references added