arXiv subjects

Katsuki Aoki

Publications and source records attributed to Katsuki Aoki.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

An Effective $S$-Matrix Approach to Low-Frequency Waveforms from Black Hole Mergers

We develop an on-shell description of low-frequency gravitational waveforms from black-hole mergers beyond leading order. Treating the strongly coupled merger as effective hard $S$-matrix data, we organize its long-wavelength response using soft theorems and the KMOC formalism. At next-to-leading order, the quantum soft theorem contains logarithmic terms absent from the classical soft theorem. We show that these extra terms cancel in the full KMOC in-in observable between the one-loop radiative amplitude and the corresponding graviton cut, leaving precisely the classical logarithmic contributions associated with gravitational drag and early-time acceleration. We also identify the $1/\omega$ corrections from remnant recoil and Christodoulou non-linear memory. These results reveal a hierarchy of merger information accessible at low frequency: logarithmic tails depend only on asymptotic hard data, recoil probes total radiated momentum, while non-linear memory probes the angular distribution of the emitted radiation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Black Hole Thermodynamics Meets On-Shell Amplitudes: Local Detailed Balance and Thermal Spectrum from Spin Universality and Unitarity

We develop an on-shell framework for thermal dissipation and radiation by macroscopic objects, whose large degeneracy of internal states is encoded in their entropy. In this framework, equilibrium asymptotic states are represented as on-shell particles, while non-equilibrium processes are described by on-shell transition amplitudes between them. A central observation is that spinning states remain essential even for macroscopically non-rotating objects. Consistency with macroscopic symmetries then implies spin universality, whereby all spinning states are governed by a single universal coupling. A key consequence is that absorption and emission probabilities are controlled by the same coupling, yielding local detailed balance directly from on-shell data. Applied to black holes, our framework reproduces the thermal emission spectrum and relates the Hawking temperature to the condition of maximal absorption consistent with unitary time evolution.

hep-th↗

arXiv2026

Resumming Scattering Amplitudes for Waveforms

We develop a formalism to compute non-perturbative 5-point scattering amplitudes and apply it to gravitational waveforms in the two-body problem for arbitrary trajectories. Drawing inspiration from Feshbach's projector formalism in nuclear physics, we introduce effective potentials governing graviton emission and relate them to perturbative scattering amplitudes at arbitrary order in the gravitational coupling and mass ratio. Once these potentials are determined, the corresponding non-perturbative amplitudes in the classical limit are obtained by iterative insertions and subsequently translated into gravitational waveforms using the KMOC formalism. As an application, we compute the gravitational waveform emitted by a conservative two-body dynamics moving along a generic, potentially highly bent, trajectory. Our formalism extends effective field theory matching of the gravitational two-body potential to radiative phenomena, enabling the extraction of gravitational-wave source terms directly from perturbative on-shell amplitudes.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Quantum Effects for Black Holes with On-Shell Amplitudes

We develop a framework based on modern amplitude techniques to analyze emission and absorption effects in black hole physics, including Hawking radiation. We first discuss quantum field theory on a Schwarzschild background in the Boulware and Unruh vacua, and introduce the corresponding $S$-matrices. We use this information to determine on-shell absorptive amplitudes describing processes where a black hole transitions to a different mass state by absorbing or emitting quanta, to all orders in gravitational coupling. This on-shell approach allows for a universal description of black holes, with their intrinsic differences encapsulated in the discontinuities of the amplitudes, without suffering from off-shell ambiguities such as gauge freedom. Furthermore, the absorptive amplitudes serve as building blocks to describe physics beyond that of isolated black holes. As applications, we find that the Hawking thermal spectrum is well understood by three-point processes. We also consider a binary system and compute the mass shift of a black hole induced by the motion of a companion object, including quantum effects. We show that the mean value of the mass shift is classical and vacuum-independent, while its variance differs depending on the vacuum choice. Our results provide confirmation of the validity of the on-shell program in advancing our understanding of black hole physics.

hep-th↗

arXiv2025

Effective Field Theory of Chiral Gravitational Waves

When a (non-)Abelian gauge field acquires an isotropic background configuration during inflation, strong gravitational waves (GWs) with parity-violating polarization, known as chiral GWs, can be produced in addition to the intrinsic unpolarized GWs. However, previous studies have analyzed individual models, leaving the generality of this phenomenon unclear. To perform a model-independent analysis, we construct an effective field theory (EFT) of chiral GWs by extending the EFT of inflation and incorporating gauge fields. The resulting action unifies inflationary models with a $SU(2)$ gauge field, such as chromo-natural inflation and gauge-flation, and ones with a triplet of $U(1)$ gauge fields, systematically encompassing all possible GW production mechanisms consistent with the symmetry breaking induced by the gauge field background. We find that chiral GWs are generically and inevitably produced, provided that the effective energy density of the background gauge field is positive and the gauge kinetic function is not fine-tuned to a specific time dependence. This EFT offers a useful foundation for future phenomenological studies as well as for deepening our theoretical understanding of chiral GWs.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Effective field theory of coupled dark energy and dark matter

We formulate an effective field theory (EFT) of coupled dark energy (DE) and dark matter (DM) interacting through energy and momentum transfers. In the DE sector, we exploit the EFT of vector-tensor theories with the presence of a preferred time direction on the cosmological background. This prescription allows one to accommodate shift-symmetric and non-shift-symmetric scalar-tensor theories by taking a particular weak coupling limit, with and without consistency conditions respectively. We deal with the DM sector as a non-relativistic perfect fluid, which can be described by a system of three scalar fields. By choosing a unitary gauge in which the perturbations in the DE and DM sectors are eaten by the metric, we incorporate the leading-order operators that characterize the energy and momentum transfers besides those present in the conventional EFT of vector-tensor and scalar-tensor theories and the non-relativistic perfect fluid. We express the second-order action of scalar perturbations in real space in terms of time- and scale-dependent dimensionless EFT parameters and derive the linear perturbation equations of motion by taking into account additional matter (baryons, radiation). In the small-scale limit, we obtain conditions for the absence of both ghosts and Laplacian instabilities and discuss how they are affected by the DE-DM interactions. We also compute the effective DM gravitational coupling $G_{\rm eff}$ by using a quasi-static approximation for perturbations deep inside the DE sound horizon and show that the existence of momentum and energy transfers allow a possibility to realize $G_{\rm eff}$ smaller than in the uncoupled case at low redshift.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

On-Shell Approach to Black Hole Mergers

We develop an on-shell approach to study black hole mergers. Since, asymptotically, the initial and final states can be described by point-like spinning particles, we propose a massive three-point amplitude for the merger of two Schwarzschild black holes into a Kerr black hole. This three-point amplitude and the spectral function of the final state are fully determined by kinematics and the model-independent input about the black hole merger which is described by a complete absorption process. Using the Kosower-Maybee-O'Connell (KMOC) formalism, we then reproduce the classical conservation laws for momentum and angular momentum after the merger. As an application, we use the proposed three-point to compute the graviton emission amplitude, from which we extract the merger waveform to all orders in spin but leading in gravitational coupling. Up to sub-subleading order in spin, this matches the classical soft graviton theorem. We conclude with a comparison to black hole perturbation theory, which gives complementary amplitudes which are non-perturbative in the gravitational coupling but to leading order in the extreme mass ratio limit. This also highlights how boundary conditions on a Schwarzschild background can be used to rederive the proposed on-shell amplitudes for merger processes.

hep-th↗

arXiv2024

CMB spectrum in unified EFT of dark energy: scalar-tensor and vector-tensor theories

We study the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation in the unified description of the effective field theory (EFT) of dark energy that accommodates both scalar-tensor and vector-tensor theories. The boundaries of different classes of theories are universally parameterised by a new EFT parameter $\alpha_V$ characterising the vectorial nature of dark energy and a set of consistency relations associated with the global/local shift symmetry. After implementing the equations of motion in a Boltzmann code, as a demonstration, we compute the CMB power spectrum based on the $w$CDM background with the EFT parameterisation of perturbations and a concrete Horndeski/generalised Proca theory. We show that the vectorial nature generically prevents modifications of gravity in the CMB spectrum. On the other hand, while the shift symmetry is less significant in the perturbation equations unless the background is close to the $\Lambda$CDM, it requires that the effective equation of state of dark energy is in the phantom region $w_{\rm DE}<-1$. The latter is particularly interesting in light of the latest result of the DESI+CMB combination as the observational verification of $w_{\rm DE}>-1$ can rule out shift-symmetric theories including vector-tensor theories in one shot.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Cosmology and the classical limit of the S-matrix

We investigate the relationships between classical observables in cosmology and the classical limit of quantum scattering amplitudes. We first look at the relation between Bogoliubov transformations and the notion of classical limit. Then, we compute the cosmological redshift for a particle in a cosmological background and the emitted gravitational waveform from a quantum field theory basis and its classical limit. We observe that there is no interpretation for the geodesic redshift purely in terms of on-shell amplitudes in flat space, given that the classical limit of a scalar 2-point vanishes when considering an FRW background with two asymptotically flat in and out regions. We resolve this apparent conundrum and recover the correct observable by showing that the action of Hermitian operators differ between the in and out regions, unlike standard approaches in flat spacetime. We then show that radiation reaction corrections to the redshift enter already at order $G$. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the emitted waveform can be represented solely in terms of an on-shell 3-point amplitude in flat space without energy conservation, providing a closed formula for the waveform in an impulsive FRW.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Anomalous Thresholds for the S-matrix of Unstable Particles

In this work, we study the analytic properties of S-matrix for unstable particles, which is defined as the residues on the unphysical sheets where unstable poles reside. We demonstrate that anomalous thresholds associated with UV physics are unavoidable for unstable particles. This is in contrast to stable particles, where the anomalous thresholds are due to IR physics, set by the scale of the external kinematics. As a result, any dispersive representation for the amplitude will involve contributions from these thresholds that are not computable from the IR theory, and thus invalidate the general positivity bound. Indeed using toy models, we explicitly demonstrate that the four-derivative couplings for unstable particles can become negative, violating positivity bounds even for non-gravitational theories. Along the way, we show that contributions from anomalous thresholds in a given channel can be captured by the double discontinuity of that channel.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Effective Field Theory of Black Hole Perturbations in Vector-Tensor Gravity

We formulate the effective field theory (EFT) of vector-tensor gravity for perturbations around an arbitrary background with a ${\it timelike}$ vector profile, which can be applied to study black hole perturbations. The vector profile spontaneously breaks both the time diffeomorphism and the $U(1)$ symmetry, leaving their combination and the spatial diffeomorphism as the residual symmetries in the unitary gauge. We derive two sets of consistency relations which guarantee the residual symmetries of the EFT. Also, we provide the dictionary between our EFT coefficients and those of generalized Proca (GP) theories, which enables us to identify a simple subclass of the EFT that includes the GP theories as a special case. For this subclass, we consider the stealth Schwarzschild(-de Sitter) background solution with a constant temporal component of the vector field and study the decoupling limit of the longitudinal mode of the vector field, explicitly showing that the strong coupling problem arises due to vanishing sound speeds. This is in sharp contrast to the case of gauged ghost condensate, in which perturbations are weakly coupled thanks to certain higher-derivative terms, i.e., the scordatura terms. This implies that, in order to consistently describe this type of stealth solutions within the EFT, the scordatura terms must necessarily be taken into account in addition to those already included in the simple subclass.

hep-th↗

arXiv2023

Cosmological Perturbation Theory in Metric-Affine Gravity

We formulate cosmological perturbation theory around the spatially curved FLRW background in the context of metric-affine gauge theory of gravity which includes torsion and nonmetricity. Performing scalar-vector-tensor decomposition of the spatial perturbations, we find that the theory displays a rich perturbation spectrum with helicities 0, 1, 2 and 3, on top of the usual scalar, vector and tensor metric perturbations arising from Riemannian geometry. Accordingly, the theory provides a diverse phenomenology, e.g. the helicity-2 modes of the torsion and/or nonmetricity tensors source helicity-2 metric tensor perturbation at the linear level leading to the production of gravitational waves. As an immediate application, we study linear perturbation of the nonmetricity helicity-3 modes for a general parity-preserving action of metric-affine gravity which includes quadratic terms in curvature, torsion, and nonmetricity. We then find the conditions to avoid possible instabilities in the helicity-3 modes of the spin-3 field.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2023

Exploring spin of ultralight dark matter with gravitational wave detectors

We propose a novel method for distinguishing the spin of ultralight dark matter (ULDM) using interferometric gravitational wave detectors. ULDM can be a bosonic field of spin-0, 1, or 2, and each induces distinctive signatures in signals. We find that the finite-time traveling effect causes a dominant signal for spin-0 and spin-1 ULDM, while not for spin-2. By using overlap reduction functions (ORF) of multiple detectors, we can differentiate between the spins of ULDM. Furthermore, we point out that the current constraint on the coupling constant of spin-1 ULDM to baryons becomes 30 times weaker when the finite-time light-travel effect on the ORF is taken into account.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Gravitational Positivity for Phenomenologists: Dark Gauge Boson in the Swampland

The gravitational positivity bound gives quantitative "swampland'' constraints on low-energy effective theories inside theories of quantum gravity. We give a comprehensive discussion of this bound for those interested in applications to phenomenological model building. We present a practical recipe for deriving the bound, and discuss subtleties relevant for realistic models. As an illustration, we study the positivity bound on the scattering of the massive gauge bosons in the Higgs/St\"{u}ckelberg mechanism. Under certain assumptions on gravitational amplitudes at high energy, we obtain a lower bound $m_{V} \gtrsim \Lambda_\mathrm{UV}^2 /g M_\mathrm{Pl}$ on the gauge boson mass $m_V$, where $g$ is the coupling constant of the gauge field, $M_\mathrm{Pl}$ is the reduced Planck mass and $\Lambda_\mathrm{UV}$ is the ultraviolet cutoff of the effective field theory. This bound can strongly constrain new physics models involving a massive gauge boson.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Coupled vector Gauss-Bonnet theories and hairy black holes

We study vector-tensor theories in which a 4-dimensional vector field $A_{\mu}$ is coupled to a vector quantity ${\cal J}^{\mu}$, which is expressed in terms of $A_{\mu}$ and a metric tensor $g_{\mu \nu}$. The divergence of ${\cal J}^{\mu}$ is equivalent to a Gauss-Bonnet (GB) term. We show that an interacting Lagrangian of the form $f(X)A_{\mu}{\cal J}^{\mu}$, where $f$ is an arbitrary function of $X=-(1/2)A_{\mu}A^{\mu}$, belongs to a scheme of beyond generalized Proca theories. For $f(X)=\alpha={\rm constant}$, this interacting Lagrangian reduces to a particular class of generalized Proca theories. We apply the latter coupling to a static and spherically symmetric vacuum configuration by incorporating the Einstein-Hilbert term, Maxwell scalar, and vector mass term $\eta X$ ($\eta$ is a constant). Under an expansion of the small coupling constant $\alpha$ with $\eta \neq 0$, we derive hairy black hole solutions endowed with nonvanishing temporal and radial vector field profiles. The asymptotic properties of solutions around the horizon and at spatial infinity are different from those of hairy black holes present in scalar-GB theories. We also show that black hole solutions without the vector mass term, i.e., $\eta=0$, are prone to ghost instability of odd-parity perturbations.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Some disquisitions on cosmological 2-form dualities

In this work we study different aspect of self-interacting 2-form fields with special emphasis in their cosmological applications. We provide the explicit construction of how massless 2-forms are compatible with the cosmological principle without resorting to the dual scalar field formulation. In terms of the 2-form, the residual Euclidean group is non-trivially realised by means of a combination of external spatial translations and internal gauge transformations. After presenting the general discussion of the dualities in cosmological scenarios, we analyse particular examples for some singular models and discuss in some detail the dual descriptions of the DBI, the cuscuton and the ghost condensate as well as the role of the duality in the effective field theories of cosmological perturbations. We then proceed to analysing scenarios with several self-interacting massless 2-forms and we show that they naturally provide the dual description of a solid. We then show how the perfect fluid and superfluids can be obtained by taking the appropriate limits in the dual formulations. We finally consider the case of massive 2-forms and their duals and briefly discuss their potential signatures in gravitational waves astronomy.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2022

Cosmological gravity probes: connecting recent theoretical developments to forthcoming observations

Since the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the present Universe, significant theoretical developments have been made in the area of modified gravity. In the meantime, cosmological observations have been providing more high-quality data, allowing us to explore gravity on cosmological scales. To bridge the recent theoretical developments and observations, we present an overview of a variety of modified theories of gravity and the cosmological observables in the cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure, supplemented with a summary of predictions for cosmological observables derived from cosmological perturbations and sophisticated numerical studies. We specifically consider scalar-tensor theories in the Horndeski and DHOST family, massive gravity/bigravity, vector-tensor theories, metric-affine gravity, and cuscuton/minimally-modified gravity, and discuss the current status of those theories with emphasis on their physical motivations, validity, appealing features, the level of maturity, and calculability. We conclude that the Horndeski theory is one of the most well-developed theories of modified gravity, although several remaining issues are left for future observations. The paper aims to help to develop strategies for testing gravity with ongoing and forthcoming cosmological observations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2022

Highly compact Proca stars with quartic self-interactions

We study self-gravitating bound states of a complex vector field, known as Proca stars, with a new type of quartic-order self-interaction which does not exist in the case of either a complex scalar field or a real vector field. Depending on the sign of the coupling constant, this quartic self-interaction can yield a distinct feature of Proca stars from the previously investigated self-interaction of the vector field. We find that self-gravitating solutions can be so compact that the photon sphere could form. However, we also show that the self-interaction gives rise to a ghost instability for the stars whose compactness is close that for the formation of a photon sphere, which might invalidate the formation of the photon sphere.

gr-qc↗