English

Gravitational radiation at infinity with non-negative cosmological constant

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2022-08-11 v1 High Energy Physics - Theory Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

The existence of gravitational radiation arriving at null infinity -- i.e. escaping from the physical system -- is addressed in the presence of a non-negative cosmological constant Λ0\Lambda\geq 0. The case with vanishing Λ\Lambda is well understood and relies on the properties of the News tensor field (or the News function) defined at infinity. The situation is drastically different when Λ>0\Lambda>0 where there is no known notion of `News' with similar good properties. In this paper both situations are considered jointly from a {\em tidal} point of view, that is, taking into account the strength (or energy) of the curvature tensors. The fundamental object used for that purposes in the {\em asymptotic (radiant) super-momentum}, a causal vector defined at infinity with remarkable properties. This leads to a novel characterization of gravitational radiation valid for the general case with Λ0\Lambda\geq 0 that has been proven to be equivalent, when Λ=0\Lambda =0, to the standard one based on News. The implications of this result are analyzed in some detail when Λ>0\Lambda >0. A general procedure to construct `news tensors' when Λ>0\Lambda >0 is depicted, a proposal for asymptotic symmetries provided, and an example of a conserved charge that may detect gravitational radiation at infinity exhibited. A series of illustrative examples is listed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2208.05436,
  title  = {Gravitational radiation at infinity with non-negative cosmological constant},
  author = {José M. M. Senovilla},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2208.05436},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

56 pages, 6 figures. Invited paper to the `Universe' Special Issue "Gravitational Radiation in Cosmological Spacetimes"