Statistical Entropy of Nonextremal Four-Dimensional Black Holes and<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mi mathvariant="italic">U</mml:mi></mml:math>Duality

Abstract

We identify the states in string theory which are responsible for the entropy of near-extremal rotating four-dimensional black holes in $N\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}8$ supergravity. For black holes far from extremality (with no rotation), the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy is exactly matched by a mysterious duality invariant extension of the formulas derived for near-extremal black holes states.