Speaker
Description
Modern gravitational wave (GW) detectors primarily utilize electromagnetic waves (EMWs) in the geometric optics regime. Geometric optics is applicable when the wavelength of the EMWs is much shorter than the characteristic scale of spacetime curvature or variations in the medium. In this work, we explore the potential of using EMWs beyond the geometric optics regime for GW detection. To this end, we directly solve the perturbed Maxwell equations. Obtaining solutions requires appropriate boundary conditions. We propose suitable boundary conditions, formulated in terms of gauge-invariant quantities, to ensure experimental controllability. Decomposing a general electromagnetic (EM) field into phase and amplitude components is not straightforward. Therefore, we propose using the stress-energy tensor of the EM field as an observable physical quantity for perturbed EMWs. We derive the stress-energy tensor for the perturbed EM field from first principles and investigate its properties. Based on this, we present several scenarios in which such methods may be applied to GW detection.
