Generalized Maxwell equal area law and black holes in complex free energy

Maxwell equal area law is an important and traditional analytical tool in thermodynamic phase transition, especially in the calculation of gas-liquid phase transition, which reconciles the theoretical calculation with the experimental results. Undoubtedly, its importance is also self-evident for the black hole thermodynamic system. In this study, we construct a generalized Maxwell equal area law, which allows different states of thermodynamic systems to be within the generalized free energy. The black hole thermodynamic characteristics are spontaneously emerged in the free energy landscape. Furthermore, by analytic continuation, we utilize the properties of analytical functions to investigate some universal characteristics of thermodynamic phase transitions in black holes, and preliminarily establish the counterpart of thermodynamic phase transitions in the complex domain.