Superradiance in the sky

Abstract

We discuss the conditions under which plane electromagnetic and gravitational waves can be amplified by a rotating black hole due to superradiant scattering. We show, in particular, that amplification can occur for low-frequency waves with an incidence angle parametrically close to 0 (or π) with respect to the black hole spin axis and with a parametrically small left (or right) polarization. This is the case of the radiation emitted by a spinning electric/magnetic dipole or gravitational quadrupole orbiting a black hole companion at large radius and co-rotating with the latter. This can yield observable effects of superradiance, for example, in neutron star-stellar mass black hole binaries, as well as in triple systems composed by a compact binary orbiting a central supermassive black hole. Due to superradiance, the total source luminosity in these systems exhibits a characteristic orbital modulation that may lead to significant observational signatures, thus paving the way for testing, in the near future, one of the most peculiar predictions of general relativity.