Scattering of complex gravitino test fields from a gravitational pulse

TL;DR

This paper solves the linearized Rarita-Schwinger equations for complex gravitino test fields in a gravitational pulse background, revealing how the gravitino's energy-momentum is affected by the shape of the gravitational wave.

Contribution

It provides an exact solution for gravitino fields in a gravitational pulse, highlighting the impact of wave shape on energy-momentum without background change.

Findings

Gravitino energy-momentum varies with wave shape

Energy density decreases as gravitino crosses the wave

Exact solutions in Rosen coordinates for this setup

Abstract

Gravitational pulse waves are defined as step functions at the boundaries. In this setting, linearized Rarita-Schwinger equations are precisely solved in Rosen coordinates. It is found that the gravitino's energy-momentum varies with the sandwich wave's shape. The gravitino's energy density will decrease as it crosses the sandwich wave at the test field level since the background won't change.