English

Gravitational wave memory and the wave equation

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2022-06-22 v2

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.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2201.05543,
  title  = {Gravitational wave memory and the wave equation},
  author = {David Garfinkle},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2201.05543},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

figure and references added. Discussion expanded and clarified

R2 v1 2026-06-24T08:50:20.915Z