Tidal acceleration of black holes and superradiance

Abstract

Tidal effects have long ago locked the Moon in a synchronous rotation with the Earth and progressively increase the Earth–Moon distance. This ‘tidal acceleration’ hinges on dissipation. Binaries containing black holes may also be tidally accelerated, dissipation being caused by the event horizon—a flexible, viscous one-way membrane. In fact, this process is known for many years under a different guise: superradiance. Here, we provide compelling evidence for a strong connection between tidal acceleration and superradiant scattering around spinning black holes. In general relativity, tidal acceleration is obscured by the gravitational-wave emission. However, when coupling to light scalar degrees of freedom is allowed, an induced dipole moment produces a ‘polarization acceleration’, which might be orders of magnitude stronger than tidal quadrupolar effects. Consequences for optical and gravitational-wave observations are intriguing and it is not impossible that imprints of such a mechanism have already been observed.