- Access by Xinjiang University
Nonlinear gravitational-wave interactions in an expanding universe
Phys. Rev. D 114, 044046 – Published 14 August, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/cbzd-3qvf
Abstract
This study explores the nonlinear interactions between gravitational waves in an expanding universe. Random ensembles of gravitational waves are evolved numerically in cosmological models whose spatial volumes increase by more than an order of magnitude during these simulations. These evolutions show the spectra of the gravitational waves evolving as energy cascades away from the wavelengths at the peak of the initial spectra toward both longer and shorter wavelengths. Evolutions performed at different gravitational-wave amplitudes are shown to produce cascades that scale with amplitude in the way predicted by the four-wave scattering models of gravitational-wave turbulence.
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Article Text
References (23)
- P. Bizon and A. Rostworowski, Phys. Rev. Lett. 107, 031102 (2011).
- O. J. C. Dias, G. T. Horowitz, and J. E. Santos, Classical Quantum Gravity 29, 194002 (2012).
- S. R. Green, F. Carrasco, and L. Lehner, Phys. Rev. X 4, 011001 (2014).
- S. Ma, L. Lehner, H. Yang, L. E. Kidder, H. P. Pfeiffer, and M. A. Scheel, Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 061401 (2026).
- S. Rica, arXiv:1608.04293.
- S. Galtier and S. V. Nazarenko, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 221101 (2017).
- K. Clough and J. C. Niemeyer, Classical Quantum Gravity 35, 187001 (2018).
- S. Galtier, J. Laurie, and S. V. Nazarenko, Universe 6, 98 (2020).
- B. Gay and S. Galtier, Phys. Rev. D 109, 083531 (2024).
- E. Florio and E. P. S. Shellard, Phys. Rev. D 113, 023534 (2026).
- J. Isenberg, in Springer Handbook of Spacetime, edited by A. Ashtekar and V. Petkov (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2014), pp. 303–321.
- J. Isenberg, Classical Quantum Gravity 12, 2249 (1995).
- Z.-P. Peng, L. Lindblom, and F. Zhang, J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 12 (2019) 042.
- H. P. Pfeiffer, L. E. Kidder, M. A. Scheel, and S. A. Teukolsky, Comput. Phys. Commun. 152, 253 (2003).
- F. Zhang and L. Lindblom, Gen. Relativ. Gravit. 54, 130 (2022).
- S. Balay, S. Abhyankar, M. F. Adams, S. Benson, J. Brown, P. Brune, K. Buschelman, E. Constantinescu, L. Dalcin, A. Dener et al., Technical Report ANL-21/39—Revision 3.16, Argonne National Laboratory (2021).
- C. W. Misner, K. S. Thorne, and J. A. Wheeler, Gravitation (W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, 1971).
- L. Lindblom, B. Szilágyi, and N. W. Taylor, Phys. Rev. D 89, 044044 (2014).
- L. Lindblom and B. Szilágyi, J. Comput. Phys. 243, 151 (2013).
- F. Zhang and L. Lindblom, Phys. Rev. D 113, 124012 (2025).
- J. R. Dormand, M. E. A. El-Mikkaway, and P. J. Prince, IMA J. Numer. Anal. 7, 423 (1987).
- F. Zhang and L. Lindblom, Using Ricci flow in the construction of homogeneous cosmological models, Phys. Rev. D (to be published).
- R. Arnowitt, S. Deser, and C. W. Misner, Gravitation: An Introduction to Current Research (W. H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco, 1962).
