Stimulated radiation from superradiant scalar cloud in scalar-tensor theory

Abstract: Scalar-tensor theories predict fundamental scalar fields of considerable interest in astrophysics and cosmology. We investigate the superradiant instability of scalar clouds around Kerr black holes, showing that stimulated decay generates detectable electromagnetic signals. The growth of the superradiant scalar cloud differs from that of other bosonic fields and depends sensitively on the matter distribution surrounding the black hole, which originates from the scalar-matter coupling realized by the chameleon mechanism in modified gravity theories. In non-uniform matter distributions, stimulated emission from scalar clouds offers an observational signature that distinguishes fundamental scalars from other light bosonic fields.