Dimitrios Kosmopoulos (CERN)
Dynamical Love Numbers for Black Holes and Beyond from Shell Effective Field Theory
- Date
- 22 April 2026, 15:00–16:00
- Location
- Ångström Laboratory, 92110
- Type
- Seminar
- Lecturer
- Dimitrios Kosmopoulos, CERN
- Organiser
- Division of Theoretical Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy
- Contact person
- Vincent Van Hemelryck
Abstract: A key property that shapes the gravitational waveform of binary systems is the tidal deformability of their constituents, quantified by the Love numbers. In modern treatments of the gravitational two-body problem, the binary dynamics are described within an effective field theory (EFT), where Love numbers enter as Wilson coefficients encoding the finite-size response of each object. In this talk, I will introduce Shell Effective Field Theory, a new framework for computing the classical gravitational dynamics of compact objects, with particular emphasis on extracting Love numbers. By combining techniques from quantum field theory with solutions to black-hole perturbation theory, Shell EFT circumvents the loop integrations that constitute the main bottleneck in conventional approaches. I will present new results for dynamical Love numbers of generic compact objects through order G^9, corresponding to an eight-loop calculation, and conjecture their all-orders structure in the case of a Schwarzschild black hole..