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arXiv · 2012.08363

Propagation of polarized gravitational waves

Lars Andersson·Jérémie Joudioux·Marius A. Oancea·Ayush Raj
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Abstract

The propagation of high-frequency gravitational waves can be analyzed using the geometrical optics approximation. In the case of large but finite frequencies, the geometrical optics approximation is no longer accurate, and polarization-dependent corrections at first order in wavelength modify the propagation of gravitational waves via a spin-orbit coupling mechanism. We present a covariant derivation from first principles of effective ray equations describing the propagation of polarized gravitational waves, up to first-order terms in wavelength, on arbitrary spacetime backgrounds. The effective ray equations describe a gravitational spin Hall effect for gravitational waves and are of the same form as those describing the gravitational spin Hall effect of light, derived from Maxwell's equations.

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Lars Andersson, Jérémie Joudioux, Marius A. Oancea, Ayush Raj. 2020-12-15. Propagation of polarized gravitational waves. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.103.044053

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