Strong-field scattering: from lasers to black holes

Scattering amplitudes in strong background fields provide an arena where perturbative and non-perturbative physics meet, with important applications ranging from laser physics to heavy ion collisions to black holes, but their study is hampered by many technical and conceptual issues. In this talk, I will try to convince you that strong-field scattering amplitudes are fascinating objects that contain a wealth of physical information which cannot be obtained with standard perturbative techniques. I'll then discuss some novel approaches to this subject, which have enabled remarkable progress in calculating scattering amplitudes in certain chiral strong background fields, including chiral versions of black holes.