Scattering in Black Hole Backgrounds and Higher-Spin Amplitudes: Part II

We demonstrate equivalences, under simple mappings, between the dynamics of three distinct systems---(i) an arbitrary-mass-ratio two-spinning-black-hole system, (ii) a spinning test black hole in a background Kerr spacetime, and (iii) geodesic motion in Kerr---when each is considered in the first post-Minkowskian (1PM) approximation to general relativity, i.e. to linear order $G$ but to all orders in $1/c$, and to all orders in the black holes' spins, with all orders in the m...

We provide the analytic waveform in time domain for the scattering of two Kerr black holes at leading order in the post-Minkowskian expansion and up to fourth order in both spins. The result is obtained by the generalization of the KMOC formalism to radiative observables, combined with the analytic continuation of the five-point scattering amplitude to complex kinematics. We use analyticity arguments to express the waveform directly in terms of the three-point coupling of the...

We propose a method to compute the scattering angle for classical black hole scattering directly from two massive particle irreducible diagrams in a heavy-mass effective field theory approach to general relativity, without the need of subtracting iteration terms. The amplitudes in this effective theory are constructed using a recently proposed novel colour-kinematic/double copy for tree-level two-scalar, multi-graviton amplitudes, where the BCJ numerators are gauge invariant ...

We provide a new efficient diagrammatic tool, in the context of the scattering equations, for computation of covariant $D$-dimensional tree-level $n$-point amplitudes with pairs of spinning massive particles using compact exponential numerators. We discuss how this framework allows non-integer spin extensions of recurrence relations for amplitudes developed for integer spin. Our results facilitate the on-going program for generating observables in classical general relativity...

It has recently been pointed out that particles falling freely from rest at infinity outside a Kerr black hole can in principle collide with arbitrarily high center of mass energy in the limiting case of maximal black hole spin. Here we aim to elucidate the mechanism for this fascinating result, and to point out its practical limitations, which imply that ultra-energetic collisions cannot occur near black holes in nature.

Black holes are an ubiquitous end state of stellar evolution and successfully explain some of the most extreme physics encountered in astronomical observations. The Kerr geometry is the known exact solution to Einstein's equations for a static, eternal black hole within the framework of general relativity, and hence is of great importance in relativistic astrophysics. An understanding of the orbital dynamics of test bodies and light rays in the Kerr spacetime is therefore fun...

We provide universal expressions for the classical piece of the amplitude given by the graviton/photon exchange between massive particles of arbitrary spin, at both tree and one loop level. In the gravitational case this leads to higher order terms in the post-Newtonian expansion, which have been previously used in the binary inspiral problem. The expressions are obtained in terms of a contour integral that computes the Leading Singularity, which was recently shown to encode ...

The post-Minkowskian expansion of Einstein's general theory of relativity has received much attention in recent years due to the possibility of harnessing the computational power of modern amplitude calculations in such a classical context. In this brief review, we focus on the post-Minkowskian expansion as applied to the two-body problem in general relativity without spin, and we describe how relativistic quantum field theory can be used to greatly simplify analytical calcul...

We study the compatibility of recursive techniques with the classical limit of scattering amplitudes through the construction of the classical Compton amplitude for general spinning compact objects. This is done using BCFW recursion on three-point amplitudes expressed in terms of the classical spin vector and tensor, and expanded to next-to-leading-order in $\hbar$ by using the heavy on-shell spinors. Matching to the result of classical computations, we find that lower-point ...

We compute the far-field time-domain waveform of the gravitational waves produced in the scattering of two spinning massive objects. The results include linear-in-spin ($S$) couplings and first-order gravitational corrections ($G^3$), and are valid for encounters in the weak-field regime. Employing a field-theory framework based on the scattering of massive scalar and vector particles coupled to Einstein-Hilbert gravity, we derive results for leading and the next-to-leading s...