Can a "pure vector" gravitational wave mimic a "pure tensor" one?

Abstract

In the general theory of relativity, gravitational waves have two possible polarizations, which are transverse and traceless with helicity $\pm 2$. Some alternatives theories contain additional helicity $0$ and helicity $\pm 1$ polarization modes. Here, we consider a hypothetical "pure vector" theory in which gravitational waves have only two possible polarizations, with helicity $\pm 1$. We show that if these polarizations are allowed to rotate as the wave propagates, then for certain source locations on the sky, the strain outputs of three ideal interferometric gravitational wave detectors can exactly reproduce the strain outputs predicted by general relativity.

8 pages, including one figure. Updated to agree with version published in PRD. Typo corrected in Appendix

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Probing gravitational wave polarizations with Advanced LIGO, Advanced Virgo and KAGRA
• Non-trivial gravitational waves and structure formation phenomenology from dark energy
• GW170817 event rules out general relativity in favor of vector gravity
• GW170814: Gravitational wave polarization analysis