Gravitational wave memory and the wave equation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that gravitational wave memory and its electromagnetic analog naturally follow from the fundamental wave equations derived from Maxwell's equations and linearized gravity, linking memory effects directly to source structures.

Contribution

It shows that gravitational and electromagnetic memory effects are direct consequences of wave equations and their source structures, providing a unified theoretical framework.

Findings

Memory effects are derived from wave equation source structures.

Electromagnetic and gravitational memory are shown to be straightforward consequences of fundamental wave equations.

The approach unifies understanding of memory effects across different physical theories.

Abstract

Gravitational wave memory and its electromagnetic analog are shown to be straightforward consequences of the wave equation. From Maxwell's equations one can derive a wave equation for the electric field, while from the Bianchi identity one can derive a wave equation for the Riemann tensor in linearized gravity. Memory in both cases is derived from the structure of the source of those wave equations.