Nonlinear Gravitational Waves: Their Form and Effects

Abstract

A gravitational wave must be nonlinear to be able to transport its own source, that is, energy and momentum. A physical gravitational wave, therefore, cannot be represented by a solution to a linear wave equation. Relying on this property, the second-order solution describing such physical waves is obtained. The effects they produce on free particles are found to consist of nonlinear oscillations along the direction of propagation.

15 pages, no figures. v2: presentation changes aiming at clarifying the text; matches published version

References in corpus (4)

• The basics of gravitational wave theory
• Gravitational Radiation from Post-Newtonian Sources and Inspiralling Compact Binaries
• Nonlinear gravitational waves and their polarization
• The Nonlinear Essence of Gravitational Waves

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• Gravitational Waves in Effective Quantum Gravity
• Bilocal fields and gravity
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• Spin-2 fields and helicity
• Gravitational waves: a foundational review
• Exploring Higher-Order Gravitational Waves
• Nonlinear phenomena in general relativity
• New Insights into the Nature of Nonlinear Gravitational Waves