Scattering from compact objects: Regge poles and the complex angular momentum method
Mohamed Ould El Hadj, Tom Stratton, Sam R. Dolan
备注：
v2: minor changes and a few typos corrected in the text to match the published version. We have also added two paragraphs (Sec.IIID) to discuss the limit $α\rightarrow 0 $, and different stellar models with continuous potentials at the surface
We calculate the Regge poles of the scattering matrix for a gravitating compact body, for scalar fields and for gravitational waves in the axial sector. For a neutron-starlike body, the spectrum exhibits two distinct branches of poles, labeled surface waves and broad resonances; for ultracompact objects, the spectrum also includes a finite number of narrow resonances. We show, via a WKB analysis, that the discontinuity of the effective potential at the body's surface determines the imaginary component of the broad-resonance poles. Next, we examine the role of Regge poles in the time-independent scattering of monochromatic planar waves. We apply complex angular momentum techniques to re-sum the partial wave series for the scattering amplitude, expressing it as a residue series evaluated at poles in the first quadrant, accompanied by a background integral. We compute the scattering cross section at several frequencies, and show precise agreement with the partial-wave calculations. Finally, we show that compact bodies naturally give rise to orbiting, glory, and rainbow-scattering interference effects.
We compute the quasinormal mode frequencies and Regge poles of the canonical acoustic hole (a black hole analogue), using three methods. First, we show how damped oscillations arise by evolving generic perturbations in the time domain using a simple finite-difference scheme. We use our results to estimate the fundamental QN frequencies of the low multipolar modes $l=1, 2, \ldots$. Next, we apply an asymptotic method to obtain an expansion for the frequency in inverse powers of $l+1/2$ for low overtones. We test the expansion by comparing against our time-domain results, and (existing) WKB resu…
We present a new method for determining the frequencies and wavefunctions of black hole quasinormal modes (QNMs) and Regge poles. The key idea is a novel ansatz for the wavefunction, which relates the high-$l$ wavefunctions to null geodesics which start at infinity and end in perpetual orbit on the photon sphere. Our ansatz leads naturally to the expansion of QNMs in inverse powers of angular momentum $L = l + 1/2$ (in 4D), and to the expansion of Regge poles in inverse powers of frequency. The expansions can be taken to high orders. We begin by applying the method to the Schwarzschild spaceti…
We study a holographic construction of conformal blocks in the Regge limit of four-point scalar correlation functions by using coordinates of the two-sided Rindler-AdS black hole. As a generalization of geodesic Witten diagrams, we construct diagrams with four external scalar fields in the Rindler-AdS black hole by integrating over two half-geodesics between the centers of Penrose diagrams and points at the AdS boundary. We demonstrate that late-time behaviors of the diagrams coincide with the Regge behaviors of conformal blocks. We also point out their relevance with the pole-skipping phenome…
We revisit the problem of plane monochromatic gravitational waves impinging upon a Schwarzschild black hole using complex angular momentum techniques. By extending our previous study concerning scalar and electromagnetic waves [A. Folacci and M. Ould El Hadj, Phys.\, Rev.\, D {\bf 99}, 104079, (2019), arXiv:1901.03965], we provide complex angular momentum representations and Regge pole approximations of the helicity-preserving and helicity-reversing scattering amplitudes and of the total differential scattering cross section. We show, in particular, that for high frequencies (i.e., in the shor…
We revisit the problem of scalar and electromagnetic waves impinging upon a Schwarzschild black hole from complex angular momentum techniques. We focus more particularly on the associated differential scattering cross sections. We derive an exact representation of the corresponding scattering amplitudes by replacing the discrete sum over integer values of the angular momentum which defines their partial wave expansions by a background integral in the complex angular momentum plane plus a sum over the Regge poles of the $S$-matrix involving the associated residues. We show that, surprisingly, t…
We advocate for an alternative description of gravitational radiation from black holes based on complex angular momentum techniques (analytic continuation of partial wave expansions, duality of the ${\cal S}$-matrix and effective resummations involving its Regge poles and the associated residues, Regge trajectories, semiclassical interpretations, etc.). Such techniques, which proved to be very helpful in various areas of physics to describe and analyze resonant scattering, were only marginally used in the context of black hole physics. Here, by considering the multipolar waveform generated by …
A large portion of the studies concerning the quasinormal mode frequencies of a Kerr black hole have focused only on achieving higher numerical accuracy with limited emphasis on providing their physical interpretation. In this article, we partially address this issue by computing the quasinormal mode frequency spectrum of a Kerr black hole using the theory of Regge poles. By considering the retarded Green's function of the Teukolsky equation, we establish for scalar, electromagnetic and gravitational perturbations an equation linking the Regge poles to the quasinormal frequencies and we solve …
We provide simple and accurate analytical expressions for the Regge poles of the Schwarzschild black hole. This is achieved by using third-order WKB approximations to solve the radial wave equations for spins 0, 1 and 2. These results permit us to obtain analytically the dispersion relation and the damping of the "surface waves" lying on the photon sphere of the Schwarzschild black hole and which generate the weakly damped quasinormal modes of its spectrum. Our results could be helpful in order to simplify considerably the description of wave scattering from the Schwarzschild black hole as wel…
We study the problem of plane monochromatic scalar waves impinging upon a Schwarzschild dirty black hole -- a Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by a thin spherical shell of matter -- using the complex angular momentum approach. We first recall general results concerning the differential scattering cross section in the classical limit through a null geodesic analysis by exploring different configurations of the shell. In particular, we show that dirty black hole spacetimes may exhibit various critical effects for geometrical optics. We compute the Regge pole spectrum for various shell configu…
We consider a wide class of static spherically symmetric black holes of arbitrary dimension with a photon sphere (a hypersurface on which a massless particle can orbit the black hole on unstable circular null geodesics). This class includes various spacetimes of physical interest such as Schwarzschild, Schwarzschild-Tangherlini and Reissner-Nordström black holes, the canonical acoustic black hole or the Schwarzschild-de Sitter black hole. For this class of black holes, we provide general analytical expressions for the Regge poles of the $S$-matrix associated with a massless scalar field theory…
Under certain conditions, sound waves in a fluid may be governed by a Klein-Gordon equation on an `effective spacetime' determined by the background flow properties. Here we consider the draining bathtub: a circulating, draining flow whose effective spacetime shares key features with the rotating black hole (Kerr) spacetime. We present a complete investigation of the role of quasinormal (QN) mode and Regge pole (RP) resonances of this system. First, we simulate a perturbation in the time domain by applying a finite-difference method, to demonstrate the ubiquity of `QN ringing'. Next, we solve …
We develop the complex angular momentum method in the context of the BTZ black hole physics. This is achieved by extending a formalism introduced a long time ago by Arnold Sommerfeld, which allows us to define and use the Regge pole concept in a framework where the notion of an $S$ matrix does not exist. The Regge poles of the BTZ black hole are exactly obtained and from the associated Regge trajectories we determine its quasinormal mode complex frequencies. Furthermore, our approach permits us to physically interpret them: they appear as Breit-Wigner-type resonances generated by surface waves…
The connection between angular momentum in quantum mechanics and geometric objects is extended to manifold with torsion. First, we notice the relation between the $6j$ symbol and Regge's discrete version of the action functional of Euclidean three dimensional gravity with torsion, then consider the Ponzano and Regge asymptotic formula for the Wigner $6j$ symbol on this simplicial manifold with torsion. In this approach, a three dimensional manifold $M$ is decomposed into a collection of tetrahedra, and it is assumed that each tetrahedron is filled in with flat space and the torsion of $M$ is c…
Wave propagations in the presence of black holes is a significant problem both in theoretical and observational aspects, especially after the discovery of gravitational wave and confirmation of black holes. We study the scattering of massless scalar field by a charged dilatonic black hole in frame of full wave theory. We apply partial wave method to obtain the scattering cross sections of the scalar field, and investigate how the black hole charge affects the scalar scattering cross sections. Furthermore, we investigate the Regge pole approach of the scattering cross section of the dilatonic b…
By using complex angular momentum techniques, we study the electromagnetic radiation generated by a charged particle falling radially from infinity into a Schwarzschild black hole. We consider both the case of a particle initially at rest and that of a particle projected with a relativistic velocity and we construct complex angular momentum representations and Regge pole approximations of the partial wave expansions defining the Maxwell scalar $ϕ_2$ and the energy spectrum $dE/dω$ observed at spatial infinity. We show, in particular, that Regge pole approximations involving only one Regge pole…
We discuss simple integration methods for the calculation of rotating black hole scattering resonances both in the complex frequency plane (quasinormal modes) and the complex angular momentum plane (Regge poles). Our numerical schemes are based on variations of "phase-amplitude" methods. In particular, we discuss the Pruefer transformation, where the original (frequency domain) Teukolsky wave equation is replaced by a pair of first-order non-linear equations governing the introduced phase functions. Numerical integration of these equations, performed along the real coordinate axis, or along ro…
By using the complex angular momentum approach, we prove that the quasinormal mode complex frequencies of the Schwarzschild black hole are Breit-Wigner type resonances generated by a family of surface waves propagating close to the unstable circular photon (graviton) orbit at $r=3M$. Furthermore, because each surface wave is associated with a given Regge pole of the $S$-matrix, we can construct the spectrum of the quasinormal-mode complex frequencies from Regge trajectories. The notion of surface wave orbiting around black holes thus appears as a fundamental concept which could be profitably i…
