Absorption of fixed scalars and the D-brane approach to black holes

Abstract We calculate the emission and absorption rates of fixed scalars by the near-extremal five-dimensional black holes that have recently been modeled using intersecting D-branes. We find agreement between the semi-classical and D-brane computations. At low energies the fixed scalar absorption cross section is smaller than for ordinary scalars and depends on other properties of the black hole than just the horizon area. In the D-brane description, fixed scalar absorption is suppressed because these scalars must split into at least four, rather than two, open strings running along the D-brane. Consequently, this comparison provides a more sensitive test of the effective string picture of the D-brane bound state than does the cross section for ordinary scalars. In particular, it allows us to read off the value of the effective string tension. That value is precisely what is needed to reproduce the near-extremal 5-brane entropy.