Thermodynamic phase transition and winding number for the third-order Lovelock black hole

Abstract

Phase transition is important for understanding the nature and evolution of the black hole thermodynamic system. In this study, the connection between the phase transition of a black hole and the winding number derived by the complex analysis is used to predict the type of the black hole phase transition. For the third-order Lovelock black holes, at the hyperbolic topology in any dimensions and the spherical topology in $7$ dimensions, we arrive at the winding numbers both are $W=3$ which predicts that the system will undergo both the first-order and second-order phase transitions. For the spherical topology in $7<d<12$ dimensions, the winding number is $W=4$ and the corresponding phase transition will occur in two situations: one with only pure second-order phase transition and the other with both first-order and second-order phase transitions. We further confirm the correctness and rationality of this prediction by placing the black hole thermodynamics system in the potential field.