The rotation of polarization by gravitational waves

Valerio Faraoni

doi:10.1016/j.newast.2007.08.005

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arXiv · 0709.0386

The rotation of polarization by gravitational waves

Valerio Faraoni

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Abstract

There are conflicting statements in the literature about the gravitational Faraday rotation of the plane of polarization of polarized electromagnetic radiation travelling through a gravitational wave. This issue is reconsidered using a simple formalism describing the rotation of the plane of polarization in a gravitational field, in the geometric optics approximation. It is shown that, to first order in the gravitational wave amplitude, the rotation angle is a boundary effect which vanishes for localized (astrophysically generated) gravitational waves and is non-zero, but nevertheless negligible, for cosmological gravitational waves.

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Valerio Faraoni. 2007-09-04. The rotation of polarization by gravitational waves. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newast.2007.08.005

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