{
  "abstract": "We derive the renormalized local equation of motion for the gravitational self-force on a compact object moving through matter in a black-hole spacetime. We integrate out the environment and metric perturbations on a Schwinger--Keldysh contour, obtaining a causal effective action given by a sum of curved-spacetime Feynman diagrams organized by powers of the mass ratio and environmental density. At leading order, an environmental wake gravitationally backreacts on the worldline. The corresponding diagram contains a logarithmic ultraviolet divergence that renormalizes the leading dissipative fluid--particle coupling. We isolate the divergence with a local large-momentum expansion, in which the curved-spacetime retarded Green's function reduces to its flat tangent-space form. We translate the resulting singularity into a Barack--Ori mode-sum scheme, deriving an analytic puncture and regularization parameters for an ideal-fluid environment. Mode subtraction fixes the divergent part but not the finite Wilson coefficient. For collisionless dust, we determine this coefficient by matching to an exact near-zone calculation for a black hole moving through the medium. This gives a complete renormalization prescription suitable for numerical self-force calculations.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.23192",
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Jordan Wilson-Gerow"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8x411p90st56x.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.23192",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "8x411p90st56x",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.23192",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.HE"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "gr-qc"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-th"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3103|Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214057848",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.23192",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-19",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8x411p90st56x.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:23:19Z",
      "native_id": "2609.23192",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.23192"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.HE",
      "subfield": "high-energy-astrophysics"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:gr-qc",
      "subfield": "gravitation"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-th",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Renormalized Dynamical Friction in Black-Hole Spacetimes",
  "title_text": "Renormalized Dynamical Friction in Black-Hole Spacetimes",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:23:19Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8x411p90st56x",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}