Green's functions for gravitational waves in FRW spacetimes
- NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Center, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, P.O. Box 500, Batavia, Illinois 60510-0500 (United States)
A method for calculating the retarded Green's function for the gravitational wave equation in Friedmann-Robertson-Walker spacetimes within the formalism of linearized Einstein gravity is developed. Hadamard's general solution to Cauchy's problem for second-order, linear partial differential equations is applied to the FRW gravitational wave equation. The retarded Green's function may be calculated for any FRW spacetime, with curved or flat spatial sections, for which the functional form of the Ricci scalar curvature [ital R] is known. The retarded Green's function for gravitational waves propagating through a cosmological fluid composed of both radiation and dust is calculated analytically for the first time. It is also shown that for all FRW spacetimes in which the Ricci scalar curvature does not vanish, [ital R][ne]0, the Green's function violates Huygens' principle; the Green's function has support inside the light cone due to the scattering of gravitational waves off the background curvature.
- OSTI ID:
- 5919698
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review, D (Particles Fields); (United States), Vol. 48:10; ISSN 0556-2821
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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