Thermodynamic phase transition and winding number for the third-order Lovelock black hole

Phase transition is important for understanding the nature and evolution of the black hole thermodynamic system. In this study, the connection between the phase transition of a black hole and the winding number derived by the complex analysis is used to predict the type of the black hole phase transition. For the third-order Lovelock black holes, at the hyperbolic topology in any dimensions and the spherical topology in $7$ dimensions, we arrive at the winding numbers both are $W=3$ which predicts that the system will undergo both the first-order and second-order phase transitions. For the spherical topology in $7<d<12$ dimensions, the winding number is $W=4$ and the corresponding phase transition will occur in two situations: one with only pure second-order phase transition and the other with both first-order and second-order phase transitions. We further confirm the correctness and rationality of this prediction by placing the black hole thermodynamics system in the potential field.