Coupling Constants as Conserved Charges in Black Hole Thermodynamics

In a generic theory of gravity coupled to matter fields, the Smarr formula and the first law of thermodynamics of black holes do not work properly if the contributions of the coupling constants defining the theory are not incorporated. However, these couplings, such as the cosmological constant or the dimensionful parameters that appear in the Lagrangian, are fixed parameters defining the theory; and they cannot be varied. Here, we present a robust method, applicable to any covariant Lagrangian, that changes the role of the couplings from the constants in a theory to the free parameters in solutions. To this end, for each one of the couplings in a theory, a pair of auxiliary scalar and gauge fields is introduced. The couplings are shown to be conserved charges of the global part of the implemented gauge symmetry. Besides, their conjugate chemical potentials are defined as the electric potential of the corresponding gauge fields on the black hole horizon. Using this method, we systematically extend the first law and the Smarr formula by coupling conserved charges and their conjugate potentials. The thermodynamics of a black hole solution in a quadratic gravity theory is given as an example