  We derive a long wavelength effective point particle description of
four-dimensional Schwarzschild black holes. In this effective theory,
absorptive effects are incorporated by introducing degrees of freedom localized
on the worldline that mimic the interaction between the horizon and bulk
fields. The correlation functions of composite operators in this worldline
theory can be obtained by standard matching calculations. For example, we
obtain the low frequency two-point function of multipole worldline operators by
relating them to the long wavelength graviton black hole absorptive cross
section. The effective theory is then used to predict the leading effects of
absorption in several astrophysically motivated examples, including the
dynamics of non-relativistic black hole binary inspirals and the motion of a
small black hole in an arbitrary background geometry. Our results can be
written compactly in terms of absorption cross sections, and can be easily
applied to the dissipative dynamics of any compact object, e.g. neutron stars.
The relation of our methodology to that developed in the context of the AdS/CFT
correspondence is discussed.
