Tails of plane wave spacetimes: Wave-wave scattering in general relativity
Tails of plane wave spacetimes: Wave-wave scattering in general relativity
One of the most important characteristics of light in flat spacetime is that it satisfies Huygens' principle: Initial data for the vacuum Maxwell equations evolve sharply along null (and not timelike) geodesics. In flat spacetime, there are no tails which linger behind expanding wavefronts. Tails generically do exist, however, if …