The Polarizations of Gravitational Waves

The gravitational wave provides a new method to examine General Relativity and its alternatives in the high speed, strong field regime. Alternative theories of gravity generally predict more polarizations than General Relativity, so it is important to study the polarization contents of theories of g...

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Main Authors: Yungui Gong, Shaoqi Hou
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-08-01
Series:Universe
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/4/8/85
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author Yungui Gong
Shaoqi Hou
author_facet Yungui Gong
Shaoqi Hou
author_sort Yungui Gong
collection DOAJ
description The gravitational wave provides a new method to examine General Relativity and its alternatives in the high speed, strong field regime. Alternative theories of gravity generally predict more polarizations than General Relativity, so it is important to study the polarization contents of theories of gravity to reveal the nature of gravity. In this talk, we analyze the polarization contents of Horndeski theory and f(R) gravity. We find out that in addition to the familiar plus and cross polarizations, a massless Horndeski theory predicts an extra transverse polarization, and there is a mix of pure longitudinal and transverse breathing polarizations in the massive Horndeski theory and f(R) gravity. It is possible to use pulsar timing arrays to detect the extra polarizations in these theories. We also point out that the classification of polarizations using Newman–Penrose variables cannot be applied to massive modes. It cannot be used to classify polarizations in Einstein-æther theory or generalized Tensor-Vector-Scalar (TeVeS) theory, either.
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spelling doaj.art-ac904f87c081499782717d3bbee278da2022-12-22T02:56:32ZengMDPI AGUniverse2218-19972018-08-01488510.3390/universe4080085universe4080085The Polarizations of Gravitational WavesYungui Gong0Shaoqi Hou1School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, ChinaSchool of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, ChinaThe gravitational wave provides a new method to examine General Relativity and its alternatives in the high speed, strong field regime. Alternative theories of gravity generally predict more polarizations than General Relativity, so it is important to study the polarization contents of theories of gravity to reveal the nature of gravity. In this talk, we analyze the polarization contents of Horndeski theory and f(R) gravity. We find out that in addition to the familiar plus and cross polarizations, a massless Horndeski theory predicts an extra transverse polarization, and there is a mix of pure longitudinal and transverse breathing polarizations in the massive Horndeski theory and f(R) gravity. It is possible to use pulsar timing arrays to detect the extra polarizations in these theories. We also point out that the classification of polarizations using Newman–Penrose variables cannot be applied to massive modes. It cannot be used to classify polarizations in Einstein-æther theory or generalized Tensor-Vector-Scalar (TeVeS) theory, either.http://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/4/8/85gravitational wavespolarizationsE(2) classification
spellingShingle Yungui Gong
Shaoqi Hou
The Polarizations of Gravitational Waves
Universe
gravitational waves
polarizations
E(2) classification
title The Polarizations of Gravitational Waves
title_full The Polarizations of Gravitational Waves
title_fullStr The Polarizations of Gravitational Waves
title_full_unstemmed The Polarizations of Gravitational Waves
title_short The Polarizations of Gravitational Waves
title_sort polarizations of gravitational waves
topic gravitational waves
polarizations
E(2) classification
url http://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/4/8/85
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