Superradiance in static black hole spacetimes

Abstract: We investigate the absorption of a massive and charged scalar field in a Reissner-Nordstr\"om background. We compare our numerical results for the absorption cross section, obtained for arbitrary frequencies, with the low- and high-frequency limits. We find, in particular, that the total absorption cross section can be negative, showing that planar scalar waves can be superradiantly amplified by black holes.