Ultralight scalars and resonances in black-hole physics

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Ultralight degrees of freedom coupled to matter lead to resonances, which can be excited when the Compton wavelength of the field equals a dynamical scale in the problem. For binaries composed of a star orbiting a supermassive black hole, these resonances lead to a smoking-gun effect: a periastron distance which stalls, even in the presence of gravitational-wave dissipation. This effect, also called a floating orbit, occurs for generic equatorial but eccentric orbits, and we argue that finite-size effects are not enough to suppress it.

Original languageEnglish
Article number044016
JournalPhysical Review D
Volume95
Issue number4
Number of pages11
ISSN2470-0010
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Feb 2017
Externally publishedYes

    Research areas

  • POST-NEWTONIAN EXPANSION, BRANS-DICKE THEORY, GRAVITATIONAL-WAVES, SPINNING PARTICLE, KERR SPACETIME, NONSPHERICAL INFALL, ADIABATIC EVOLUTION, INCLINED ORBITS, RADIATION, MOTION

ID: 299402864