2019/04/30 by Loïc Marsot
Mathematics · Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Geodesic #Gravitation #Gravitational wave #Mathematical analysis #Mathematics #Null (SQL) #Photon #Photon polarization #Physics #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Quantum electrodynamics #Quantum mechanics #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.100.064050
published as Phys. Rev. D 100, 064050 (2019) · 12 pages; version 2 matches publication with an improved introduction, 14 pages
openalex publication_date 2019/09/24 · arxiv created 2019/09/25 · arxiv updated 2019/10/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We study the effect of the polarization of light beams on the time delay measured in gravitational wave experiments. To this end, we consider the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations in a gravitational wave background, with two of the possible spin supplementary conditions: by Frenkel-Pirani, or by Tulczyjew. In the first case, photons follow a null geodesic and thus no spin effect is present. The second case shows a deviation of the photons from the null geodesic, resulting in a tiny effect on the measured time delay of photons depending on their polarization state.