U-Invariants, Black-Hole Entropy and Fixed Scalars

Abstract

The absolute (moduli-independent) U-invariants of all N>2 extended supergravities at D=4 are derived in terms of (moduli-dependent) central and matter charges. These invariants give a general definition of the ``topological'' Bekenstein-Hawking entropy formula for extremal black-holes and reduce to the square of the black-hole ADM mass for ``fixed scalars'' which extremize the black-hole ``potential'' energy. The Hessian matrix of the black-hole potential at ``fixed scalars'', in contrast to N=2 theories, is shown to be degenerate, with rank (N-2)(N-3) + 2 n (N being the number of supersymmetries and n the number of matter multiplets) and semipositive definite.