Collision of plane gravitational and electromagnetic waves in a Minkowski background: solution of the characteristic initial value problem

DOI10.1088/0264-9381/21/23/021zbMATH Open1065.83009arXivgr-qc/0410047OpenAlexW3102049586MaRDI QIDQ4659409FDOQ4659409

Authors: G. A. Alekseev, Jerry B. Griffiths 

Publication date: 21 March 2005

Published in: Classical and Quantum Gravity (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We consider the collisions of plane gravitational and electromagnetic waves with distinct wavefronts and of arbitrary polarizations in a Minkowski background. We first present a new, completely geometric formulation of the characteristic initial value problem for solutions in the wave interaction region for which initial data are those associated with the approaching waves. We present also a general approach to the solution of this problem which enables us in principle to construct solutions in terms of the specified initial data. This is achieved by re-formulating the nonlinear dynamical equations for waves in terms of an associated linear problem on the spectral plane. A system of linear integral ``evolution equations which solve this spectral problem for specified initial data is constructed. It is then demonstrated explicitly how various colliding plane wave space-times can be constructed from given characteristic initial data.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0410047

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Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Einstein's equations (general structure, canonical formalism, Cauchy problems) (83C05) Gravitational waves (83C35)

Cited In (8)

• Initial value problem for colliding gravitational plane waves. I
• The initial value problem for colliding gravitational and hydrodynamic waves
• A family of electrovac colliding wave solutions of Einstein’s equations
• The hyperbolic Ernst equation in a triangular domain
• Asymptotics to all orders of the Euler-Darboux equation in a triangle
• Electromagnetic potentials in curved spacetimes
• A continuous Riemann-Hilbert problem for colliding plane gravitational waves
• The stability of Killing-Cauchy horizons in colliding plane wave space-times

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