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From the Gravitational Compton Amplitude to Black Hole Perturbation Theory

N. Emil J. Bjerrum-Bohr1,2,*, Gang Chen1,2,†, Carl Jordan Eriksen3,‡, and Nabha Shah1,2,§

  • *Contact author: bjbohr@nbi.dk
  • †Contact author: gang.chen@nbi.ku.dk
  • ‡Contact author: carl.jordan.eriksen@physik.hu-berlin.de
  • §Contact author: nabha.shah@nbi.ku.dk
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 131601 – Published 25 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/f939-mjhj

Abstract

We employ a single worldline effective field theory in a Schwarzschild-Tangherlini background to compute the gravitational Compton amplitude up to third post-Minkowskian order. After excising the infrared divergences associated with the Weinberg phase, we establish a direct and exact map to results in black hole perturbation theory with a natural resummation and regularization of the forward divergences of the Compton amplitude. We also outline possible applications of this useful computational bridge for Compton amplitudes that include spin and tidal effects.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 137, 131601– Published 25 September, 2026
  • Received 21 April 2026
  • Accepted 31 August 2026
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