English

Nonlinear Gravitational Waves: Their Form and Effects

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2010-03-02 v2

Abstract

A gravitational wave must be nonlinear to be able to transport its own source, that is, energy and momentum. A physical gravitational wave, therefore, cannot be represented by a solution to a linear wave equation. Relying on this property, the second-order solution describing such physical waves is obtained. The effects they produce on free particles are found to consist of nonlinear oscillations along the direction of propagation.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0809.2911,
  title  = {Nonlinear Gravitational Waves: Their Form and Effects},
  author = {R. Aldrovandi and J. G. Pereira and Roldao da Rocha and K. H. Vu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0809.2911},
  year   = {2010}
}

Comments

15 pages, no figures. v2: presentation changes aiming at clarifying the text; matches published version

R2 v1 2026-06-21T11:21:05.990Z