Nonperturbative black hole entropy and Kloosterman sums

Abstract: Non-perturbative quantum corrections to supersymmetric black hole entropy often involve nontrivial number-theoretic phases called Kloosterman sums. We show how these sums can be obtained naturally from the functional integral of supergravity in asymptotically AdS_2 space for a class of black holes. They are essentially topological in origin and correspond to charge-dependent phases arising from the various gauge and gravitational Chern-Simons terms and boundary Wilson lines evaluated on Dehn-filled solid 2-torus. These corrections are essential to obtain an integer from supergravity in agreement with the quantum degeneracies, and reveal an intriguing connection between topology, number theory, and quantum gravity. We give an assessment of the current understanding of quantum entropy of black holes.