Self-force on a scalar charge in a circular orbit about a Reissner-Nordström black hole

Abstract

Motivated by applications to the study of self-force effects in scalar-tensor theories of gravity, we calculate the self-force exerted on a scalar charge in a circular orbit about a Reissner-Nordström black hole. We obtain the self-force via a mode-sum calculation, and find that our results differ from recent post-Newtonian calculations even in the slow-motion regime. We compute the radiative fluxes towards infinity and down the black hole, and verify that they are balanced by energy dissipated through the local self-force - in contrast to the reported post-Newtonian results. The self-force and radiative fluxes depend solely on the black hole's charge-to-mass ratio, the controlling parameter of the Reissner-Nordström geometry. They both monotonically decrease as the black hole reaches extremality. With respect to an extremality parameter $ε$, the energy flux through the event horizon is found to scale as $\sim ε^{5/4}$ as $ε\rightarrow 0$.

8 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in PRD