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In two-derivative theories of gravity coupled to matter, charged black holes are self-attractive at large distances, with the force vanishing at zero temperature. However, in the presence of massless scalar fields and four-derivative corrections, zero-temperature black holes no longer need to obey the no-force condition. In this paper, we show how to calculate the long-range force between such black holes. We develop an efficient method for computing the higher-derivative corrections to the scalar charges when the theory has a shift symmetry, and compute the resulting force in a variety of examples. We find that higher-derivative corrected black holes may be self-attractive or self-repulsive, depending on the value of the Wilson coefficients and the VEVs of scalar moduli. Indeed, we find black hole solutions which are both superextremal and self-attractive. Furthermore, we present examples where no choice of higher-derivative coefficients allows for self-repulsive black hole states in all directions in charge space. This suggests that, unlike the Weak Gravity Conjecture, which may be satisfied by the black hole spectrum alone, the Repulsive Force Conjecture requires additional constraints on the spectrum of charged particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the inflationary scenarios that try to explain the origin of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) from the enhancements of the power spectrum to values of order one, at the relevant scales, run into clashes with the Effective Field Theory (EFT) criteria or fail to enhance the power spectrum to such large amplitudes. In this paper, we unravel a mechanism for enhancing the power spectrum during inflation that does not use the flattening of the potential or reduction of the sound speed of scalar perturbations. The mechanism is based on this observation in the formalism of Extended EFT of inflation (EEFToI) with the sixth order polynomial dispersion relation for scalar perturbations that if the quartic coefficient in the dispersion relation is negative and smaller than a certain threshold, the amplitude of the power spectrum is enhanced substantially. The instability mechanism must arrange to kick in at the scales of interest related to the mass of the PBHs one would like to produce, which can be ten(s) of solar mass PBHs, suitable for LIGO events, or 10−17− 10−13 solar mass PBHs, which can comprise the whole dark matter energy density. We argue that the strong coupling is avoided for the range of parameters that the mechanisms enhance the power spectrum to the required amount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we derive for the first time the complete gravitational quartic-in-spin interaction of generic compact binaries at the next-to-leading order in the post-Newtonian (PN) expansion. The derivation builds on the effective field theory for gravitating spinning objects, and its recent extensions, in which new type of worldline couplings should be considered, as well as on the extension of the effective action of a spinning particle to quadratic order in the curvature. The latter extension entails a new Wilson coefficient that appears in this sector. This work pushes the precision frontier with spins at the fifth PN (5PN) order for maximally-spinning compact objects, and at the same time informs us of the gravitational Compton scattering with higher spins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is well known that an identical pair of extremal Reissner-Nordström black holes placed a large distance apart will exert no force on each other. In this paper, I establish that the same result holds in a very large class of two-derivative effective theories containing an arbitrary number of gauge fields and moduli, where the appropriate analog of an extremal Reissner-Nordström black hole is a charged, spherically symmetric black hole with vanishing surface gravity or vanishing horizon area. Analogous results hold for black branes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we provide a simple and modern discussion of rotational super-radiance based on quantum field theory. We work with an effective theory valid at scales much larger than the size of the spinning object responsible for superradiance. Within this framework, the probability of absorption by an object at rest completely determines the superradiant amplification rate when that same object is spinning. We first discuss in detail superradiant scattering of spin 0 particles with orbital angular momentum ℓ = 1, and then extend our analysis to higher values of orbital angular momentum and spin. Along the way, we provide a simple derivation of vacuum friction - a 'quantum torque' acting on spinning objects in empty space. Our results apply not only to black holes but to arbitrary spinning objects. We also discuss superradiant instability due to formation of bound states and, as an illustration, we calculate the instability rate Γ for bound states with massive spin 1 particles. For a black hole with mass M and angular velocity Ω, we find Γ ∼ ( GM μ)Ω when the particle's Compton wavelength 1 /μ is much greater than the size GM of the spinning object. This rate is parametrically much larger than the instability rate for spin 0 particles, which scales like ( GM μ)Ω. This enhanced instability rate can be used to constrain the existence of ultralight particles beyond the Standard Model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]