Numerical aspects of black hole superradiance

Abstract

In this work we explore a numerical technique, based on the spherical harmonic decomposition and the discretization of the radial coordinate through \v{C}eby\v{s}\"ev polynomial interpolation, for the computation of quasi-bound states of linear massive scalar and vector perturbations in spinning black hole spacetimes in General Relativity. The aim is studying black hole superradiant instabilities, an energy-extraction mechanism triggered by the presence of massive bosonic fields near black holes, which finds wide applications in constraining scenarios beyond Standard Model and General Relativity. This method does not rely on any separation ans\"atze, thus it can have wide applications. Consequently we extend the technique so that it can be applied also to the computation of massive tensor quasi-bound states in spinning black holes in General Relativity, whose separability ansatz is currently unknown. We also apply it to spinning black holes in scalar-tensor theory non-linearly interacting with plasma, wherein the massless scalar perturbations acquires an effective mass, finding a novel way for constraining scalar-tensor theories.