Elliptically Polarized Plane Gravitational Waves

TL;DR

This paper presents exact solutions for elliptically polarized plane gravitational waves in general relativity, analyzing their properties and effects on test particles, including the formation of cosmic jets with particles aligning along the wave's direction.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed analysis of nonlinear elliptically polarized plane gravitational waves, drawing analogies with electromagnetic waves and exploring their influence on test particle motion.

Findings

Test particles tend to align with wave propagation, forming cosmic jets.

Most timelike geodesics asymptotically approach the speed of light.

The properties of these gravitational waves resemble electromagnetic wave behavior.

Abstract

Exact plane gravitational radiation fields are presented within the framework of general relativity and their properties are described. The physics of nonlinear elliptically polarized plane gravitational waves is developed in close analogy with electromagnetic waves. The motion of free test particles in the dynamic gravitational fields of elliptically polarized plane waves is investigated. In particular, we demonstrate the cosmic jet property of these spacetimes, namely, most timelike geodesics tend to line up in the direction of wave propagation and produce a cosmic jet whose speed asymptotically approaches the speed of light.