Scattering and absorption of electromagnetic waves by a Schwarzschild black hole

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Abstract
The scattering and absorption of electromagnetic waves by a spherically symmetric nonrotating black hole is studied in the Schwarzschild background, by means of the known expansion of the modified Debye potentials in partial waves. The power reflection coefficients and the phase shifts of the partial waves are evaluated at both high and low frequencies. Then the scattering and absorption cross sections of the black hole are determined. It is shown that the black hole is almost unable to absorb electromagnetic waves when the wavelength of the radiation is greater than the Schwarzschild radius.