The effect of gravitation on the polarization state of a light ray

Abstract

In the present work the rotation of polarization vector due to the gravitational field of a rotating body has been derived, from the general expression of Maxwell's equation in the curved space-time. Considering the far field approximation (i.e impact parameter is greater than the Schwarzschild radius and rotation parameter), the amount of rotation of polarization vector as a function of impact parameter has been obtained for a rotating body (considering Kerr geometry). Present work shows that, the rotation of polarization vector can not be observed in case of Schwarzschild geometry. This work also calculates the effect, considering prograde and retrograde orbit for the light ray. Although the present work demonstrates the effect of rotation of polarization vector for electromagnetic wave (light ray), but it confirms that there would be no net polarization of electromagnetic wave due to the curved space-time geometry.

References in corpus (8)

• Observation of Gravitational Waves from a Binary Black Hole Merger
• A Radio Pulsar Spinning at 716 Hz
• The Kerr spacetime: A brief introduction
• The X-Ray Polarization Signature of Quiescent Magnetars: Effect of Magnetospheric Scattering and Vacuum Polarization
• Spinoptics in a stationary spacetime
• Gravitational Faraday rotation in a weak gravitational field
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Cited by in corpus (7)

• Birefringent light propagation on anisotropic cosmological backgrounds
• Gravitational Faraday and Spin-Hall Effects of Light
• Massless polarized particle and Faraday rotation of light in the Schwarzschild spacetime
• Characteristics of interaction between Gravitons and Photons
• Optical Polarization Holonomy in the Kerr Metric
• An angular rainbow of light from curved spacetime
• Rotation of Polarization Vector, in Case of Non-Inertial Rotational Frame