Null geodesics, quasinormal modes, and thermodynamic phase transition for charged black holes in asymptotically flat and dS spacetimes *

Abstract

Abstract A numerical study has indicated that there exists a relation between the quasinormal modes and the Davies point for a black hole. In this paper, we analytically study this relation for charged Reissner-Nordström black holes in asymptotically flat and de Sitter (dS) spacetimes in the eikonal limit, under which the quasinormal modes can be obtained from the null geodesics using the angular velocity and the Lyapunov exponent of the photon sphere. Both in asymptotically flat and dS spacetimes, we observe spiral-like shapes in the complex quasinormal mode plane. However, the starting point of the shapes does not coincide with the Davies point. Nevertheless, we find a new relation in which the Davies point exactly meets the maximum temperature T in the T- and T- planes. In a higher-dimensional asymptotically flat spacetime, although there is no spiral-like shape, such a relation still holds. Therefore, we provide a new relation between black hole thermodynamics and dynamics in the eikonal limit. Applying this relation, we can test the thermodynamic property of a black hole using the quasinormal modes.