Introduction to General Relativity: Exercises

J.D. Romano
CGWA Summer School 2011

Contents
1 Overview & Review
1 Units in GR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2 When do relativistic gravity effects become important? .
3 Clocks on an accelerating rocket . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4 Newtonian gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5 Newtonian tidal acceleration tensor . . . . . . . . . . . .
6 Variational principle and Euler-Lagrange equations . . .

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2 Mathematics
1 Line elements for flat 2-d space, 3-d space, and Minkowski
2 Christoffel symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3 Geodesic equation on the 2-sphere . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4 Geodesic equation in curved spacetime . . . . . . . . . . .
5 Covariant differentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6 Riemann curvature tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

spacetime
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3 Einstein field equation

1 Riemann curvature tensor from geodesic deviation
2 Properties of the Riemann curvature tensor . . . .
3 Linearised Riemann and Einstein tensors . . . . .
4 Infinitesimal coordinate transformations . . . . . .
5 Gauge transformations for Maxwells equations . .

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4 Gravitational waves: Overview

1 Rotation of the plane transverse to a GW (Hartle, Problem 16.7)
2 Circularly polarized gravitational waves (Hartle, Problem 16.9) .
3 Interference pattern (Hartle, Problem 16.10) . . . . . . . . . . .
4 Detector response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5 Gravitational-wave energy flux for LIGO (Hartle, Problem 16.13)

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5 Gravitational waves: Details

1 Solution to wave equation with source term
2 Electric dipole radiation . . . . . . . . . . .
3 Mass quadrupole radiation . . . . . . . . .
4 Angular integrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5 Radiated power in electromagnetic waves .
6 Radiated power in GWs . . . . . . . . . . .
7 Angular distribution of radiated power from

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Problem 23.9)

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stars (Hartle,

Overview & Review

1. Units in GR:
In SR it is convenient to measure time in units of distance. The speed of light c =
2.998 1010 cm/s acts as conversion factor changing times to lengths (e.g., 1 s of time
corresponds to 2.998 1010 cm).
(a) Show that G/c2 has the proper dimensions to convert masses to lengths.
(b) Calculate the numerical value of G/c2 in CGS units. (Note: G = 6.67108 dyncm2 /g2
where 1 dyn = 105 N.)
(c) Express the mass of the Sun as a length. (M 2 1033 g)
(d) Express the mass of the Earth as a length. (M 6 1027 g)
(e) Show that c5 /G has dimensions of power.
(f) Calculate the numerical value of c5 /G in Watts.
If times and masses are measured in units of distance they are said to be in geometric
units. In geometric units, the speed of light c and Newtons gravitational constant G are
both equal to one (in these units).
2. When do relativistic gravity effects become important?
One expects relativistic gravity effects to become important when gravitational potential
energy (V GM 2 /R for a body of mass M and characteristic size R) becomes comparable
to relativistic rest-mass energy (E = M c2 ).
(a) Equating V and E, show that relativistic effects become important when
GM
1
Rc2

(1)

(b) Show that GM/Rc2 109 , 106 , 104 , 101 , and 1/2 for the Earth, Sun, a white
dwarf, neutron star, and black hole, respectively.
3. Clocks on an accelerating rocket:
Show that if two clocks in an accelerating rocket are separated by a vertical distance h
(clock A located in the nose of the rocket and clock B at the tail), then the time interval
A between light pulses emitted at A and the time interval B between reception of
those pulses at B are related by


gh
B = A 1 2
(2)
c
where g is the acceleration of the rocket and c is the speed of light. (Note: This relation is
valid to first-order in gh/c2 . Assume that the pulse periods are small compared to the light
travel time across the rocketi.e., A , B  h/c, and that the velocities acquired over
the time h/c are much less than the speed of lighti.e., gh/c2  1, so that the calculations
can be done non-relativistically.)
4. Newtonian gravity:
(a) Write down the gravitational force on a point mass m moving in a Newtonian gravitational field ~g .
(b) How is the Newtonian gravitational field ~g related to the Newtonian gravitational
potential ?

(c) Show that

Z
(~x, t) =

d3 y

G(~y , t)
|~x ~y |

(3)

is the solution to the Poisson equation

2 (~x, t) = 4 G(~x, t)
(Hint: You can use the identity

2

1
|~x ~y |

= 4 3 (~x ~y )

(4)

(5)

where 3 (~x) is the 3-dimensional Dirac delta function.)

(d) Show that you recover the standard formulas, e.g.,
GM m
r
F~ =
r2

(6)

when (~x, t) corresponds to a point source of mass M at the origin.

5. Newtonian tidal acceleration tensor:
(a) Show that
d2 i
= ij j k (x)k
(7)
dt2
where i are the components of the displacement vector connecting two nearby freelyfalling particles in a Newtonian gravitational potential .
(b) Using the result of the previous part, show that for = GM/r, if two freely-falling
particles are separated by a small radial displacement , then
2GM
d2
=+ 3
dt2
r

(8)

(c) Similarly, show that if two freely-falling particles are separated by a small transverse
displacement , then
d2
GM
= 3
(9)
2
dt
r
Hence a ring of freely-falling particles would be distorted into an ellipse (stretched in
the radial direction, compressed in the transverse direction) as it fell toward the center
of the gravitational potential.
6. Variational principle and Euler-Lagrange equations:
(a) Write down the E-L equation for the action
Z tQ
S[x(t)] =
dt L(x(t), x(t),

t)

(10)

tP

which describes the motion of a particle in 1-d from position xP at time tP to position
xQ at time tQ .
(b) For Newtonian mechanics, the Lagrangian for 1-d motion is
L=T V =

1
mx 2 V (x)
2

(11)

Show that the E-L equation for the above Lagrangian is

m
x=

V
x

i.e., the usual equation of motion for Newtonian mechanics.

3

(12)

(c) Consider the functional

Z

ds =

SP Q [x(), y()] =

s

dx
d

2


+

dy
d

2
(13)

which gives the arc length between points P and Q in a 2-d plane along the curve
(x(), y()). Show that E-L equations for this functional imply that the extremal
curve is simply a straight line.

Mathematics
1. Line elements for flat 2-d space, 3-d space, and Minkowski spacetime:
(a) Write down the line element ds2 for a flat 2-d plane in Cartesian coordinates (x, y).
(b) Repeat the above for plane polar coordinates (r, ).
(c) Show that one can obtain the answer to the previous part by simply expressing the
coordinate differentials dx and dy in terms of dr and d using the coordinate transformation equations x = r cos , y = r sin .
(d) Repeat the above three parts for the line element ds2 for ordinary 3-d Euclidean space
in terms of Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) and spherical polar coordinates (r, , ).
(e) Write down the line element ds2 of SR in global Minkowski coordinates (t, x, y, z).
(f) What are the components of the metric tensor in these coordinates?
2. Christoffel symbols:
(a) Calculate the Christoffel symbols for flat 2-d space in Cartesian coordinates (x, y)
using the formula
A BC =

1 AD
g
(B gCD + C gBD D gBC )
2

(14)

(b) Repeat the above for plane polar coordinates (r, ).

(c) Show that the Christoffel symbols calculated in part (b) agree with those found by
extremising the functional
s 
 2
Z Q
Z Q
2
d
dr
2
SP Q [r(), ()] =
+r
(15)
ds =
d
d
d
P
P
and then identifying the appropriate terms in the geodesic equation.
3. Geodesic equation on the 2-sphere:
(a) Write down the geodesic equations on a 2-sphere of radius a by extremising the
functional
s 
 2
Z Q
Z Q
2
d
d
2
SP Q [(), ()] =
ds = a
d
+ sin
(16)
d
d
P
P
and identify the Christoffel symbols for the 2-sphere in standard angular coordinates
(, ).
(b) Show that arcs of great circles (i.e., (s) = const, (s) = Cs + D, where C and D are
constants) solve the above equations.
4. Geodesic equation in curved spacetime:
Show that the Euler-Lagrange equations for the Lagrangian
r


dx ()
d
dx dx

L x (),
, :=
= g (x)
d
d
d d
are

where

d2 x
dx dx

=0

d 2
d d


1
g
g
g
+

= g
2
x
x
x

are the Christoffel symbols, and g are the components of the inverse matrix to g .
5

(17)

(18)

(19)

5. Covariant differentiation:
(a) Show that the covariant derivatives of the coordinate basis vectors in plane polar
coordinates (r, ) are given by
er er = 0 ,

e er =

1
e ,
r

er e =

1
e ,
r

e e = r er ,

(20)

where eA eB denotes the covariant derivative of eB in the direction of eA .

(b) Using the results of the previous part, show that
eB eA = C AB eC

(21)

where C AB are the Christoffel symbols that you calculated in Problem 2, part (b).
(c) Calculate all four components of the covariant derivative of the vector field (v r , v ) =
(1, 0) defined on flat 2-d space in plane polar coordinates (r, ).
6. Riemann curvature tensor:
(a) Show that the Riemann curvature tensor defined by
( )v =: R v

(22)

R = +

(23)

has components

(b) Calculate the one independent component of the Riemann curvature tensor, R ,
for a 2-sphere or radius a, ds2 = a2 (d2 + sin2 d2 ).
(c) Show that the scalar curvature for a 2-sphere of radius a is R = 2/a2 .

Einstein field equation

1. Riemann curvature tensor from geodesic deviation:
(a) Show that
a := (u u ) = R u u

(24)

R := +

(25)

where

and are the components of the relative separation vector, which connects a geodesic
u := dx /d to a nearby geodesic d(x + )/d , | |  1.
Hint: First expand a in terms of derivatives of , u , and the Christoffel symbols
. Then substitute for d2 /d 2 and du /d , using the geodesic equations for
u = dx /d and d(x + )/d .
(b) Show that
Rjtkt = j k
for a weak, static gravitational field described by the line element


ds2 = (1 + 2)dt2 + (1 2) dx2 + dy 2 + dz 2

(26)

(27)

2. Properties of the Riemann curvature tensor:

(a) Show that the components of the Riemann curvature tensor in LICs can be written
as
1
R = ( g g + g g )
(28)
2
(b) Using the above expression, show that the Riemann curvature tensor has the following
symmetry properties:
R = R

(29)

R = R

(30)

R = +R

(31)

R + R + R = 0

(32)

(c) Show that the Riemann tensor also satisfies the differential identity:
R + R + R = 0

(33)

Note that all of these properties hold with respect to any coordinates x , not just
LICs.
(d) Show that property (31) is actually a consequence of the other three symmetry properties.
(e) Using property (30), show that property (32) can be written as
R[] = 0

(34)

where [] means anti-symmetrise over all indices:

[]

1
( + + )
3!

(35)

(f) Using the results of the previous parts, show that the number of independent components of the Riemann tensor in n-dimensions is n2 (n2 1)/12.
(g) Using the result of part (e), calculate the number of independent components of the
Riemann curvature tensor in 2, 3, and 4-dimensions.
7

(h) Show that contracting (33) with g g leads to the Bianchi identity
Ga = 0

(36)

for the Einstein tensor G := R 21 Rg .

3. Linearised Riemann and Einstein tensors:
(a) Show that, to first-order in h , the Riemann tensor has components
R =

1
( h h + h h )
2

(37)

(b) Using the result of the previous part, show that, to first-order in h , the Einstein
tensor has components
G =

1
+ h
h
h

h
2

(38)

where

:= h 1 h , h := h
h
2
are the so-called trace-reverse metric perturbations.

(39)

4. Infinitesimal coordinate transformations:

Consider an infinitesimal coordinate transformation of the form
x x0 := x + (x)

(40)

where are slowly varying functions of positioni.e., | |  1.

(a) Show that, to first-order, the transformation matrix from x0 to x is

x
=
0
x
x

(41)

(b) Show that the metric components transform to first-order according to

0
g g
=

x x
g = g
x0 x0

(42)

or, equivalently,
h h0 = h

(43)

(c) Using the result of the previous part, show that the trace-reverse metric perturbations
transform to first-order according to
h
0 = h
+
h

(44)

0 = 0 2 = h

h

(45)

so that
where
2 := =


2
2
+

.
t2

(46)

(d) Show that under an infinitesimal coordinate transformation the components of the
Riemann tensor (c.f. Eq. (37)) are unchanged to first-order.

5. Gauge transformations for Maxwells equations:

~ and B
~ can be written as
Maxwells equations for the electric and magnetic fields E
~ E
~

0

~ E
~

~ B
~

(49)

~
E
0~j +
t

(50)

~ B
~

(47)

~
B
t

(48)

where and ~j are the electric charge and current densities, respectively. (This is in units
where c = 1.)
(a) Show that
~
E

~
=

~
B

~ A
~
=

~
A
t

(51)
(52)

~ are called the scalar and vector

solve the source-free Maxwell equations. ( and A
potentials for the electromagnetic field.)
~ and B
~ are unchanged under the gauge transformation
(b) Show that E
~A
~0 A
~ +
~
A

0
t

(53)
(54)

where is an arbitrary function of ~x and t.

(c) Show that Maxwells equations with sources can be written as
~ = 0~j
2A

and 2 = /0

(55)

in the Lorentz gauge

~ A
~ + = 0

(56)

(d) Show that if

~ A
~ + =

6 0
(57)
t
one can always make a gauge transformation to a new set of scalar and vector poten~ 0 according to Eqs. (54) and (53) which do satisfy the Lorentz gauge
tials 0 and A
condition
0
~ A
~ 0 + = 0

(58)
t
Prove this by showing that


0
~ A
~ 0 + = 0 2 =
~ A
~ +

(59)
t
t
Note that there is a mathematical theorem that says that such an equation for (i.e.,
a wave equation with source term) always admits a solution. Thus, there was no loss
of generality in assuming the Lorentz gauge condition in part (5c).

Gravitational waves: Overview

1. Rotation of the plane transverse to a GW (Hartle, Problem 16.7):
One can produce a gravitational wave with polarization by rotating the + polarization
by 45 . Show that a rotation by an arbitrary angle doesnt give another independent
solution but rather one that could be written as a superpostion of + and . This is one
way of seeing that there are only two linearly independent polarizations of a gravitational
wave.
2. Circularly polarized gravitational waves (Hartle, Problem 16.9):
The superposition of a + polarized gravitational plane wave with another of the same
amplitude, frequency, and propagation direction but with polarization and 90 out of
phase is called a circularly polarized gravitational wave. Show that a circularly polarized
plane gravitational wave with frequency that is normally incident on a circular ring of
test particles causes each test particle to rotate in a small circle, producing an elliptical
pattern that rotates with constant angular velocity. What is the angular frequency?
Hint: For a circularly polarized gravitational wave propagating in the +z-direction with
h+ (tz) = a sin((tz)) and h (tz) = a cos((tz)), make a coordinate transformation
from the TT coordinates (x, y) to locally flat coordinates (X, Y ) given by


1
1
(60)
X(t) = 1 + a sin(t) x + a cos(t) y
2
2


1
1
(61)
Y (t) = 1 a sin(t) y + a cos(t) x
2
2
which is valid to first-order in the gravitational-wave amplitude a. Then analyse the motion
of a circular ring of test particles in terms of X(t) and Y (t).
3. Interference pattern (Hartle, Problem 16.10):
Suppose at the photodetector of a laser interferometer, the electric field of the two light
waves that have traveled along the different arms have the forms a sin[(t L(x) )] and
a sin[(tL(y) )], respectively. Show that if these are combined (added), the time-averaged
intensity of the resulting wave (proportional to the square of the amplitude) is proportional
to cos2 (L/2), where L := L(x) L(y) . Plot the intensity as a function of L/, where
:= 2/ is the wavelength of the laser light.
4. Detector response:
Consider a plane +-polarized gravitational wave propagating in the z direction, incident
on a laser interferometer in the x-y plane, with vertex at the origin and arms (each of
length L ) oriented along the x and y axes. In TT coordinates, the spacetime metric is
given by
ds2 = dt2 + (1 + h+ (t + z)) dx2 + (1 h+ (t + z)) dy 2 + dz 2
(62)
In lecture we showed that in the long-wavelength approximation, the diffeerence in photon
propagation times down and back the two arms of the interferometer is given by
T (t) := Ttot,x (t) Ttot,y (t) = 2L h+ (t)

(63)

In this problem, we will derive the general response of the interferometer to the passing
gravitational wave, making no assumption about the wavelength of the GW relative to the
arm length of the detector. To do that, proceed as follows:
(a) Show that the propagation time of the photon outward along the x-arm is given by
Tout,x (t) = L +
10

1
2

h+ (t L + x) dx
0

(64)

where (as usual) we have ignored second-order terms in the metric perturbations.
Here t is the time when the photon reaches the end of the arm, x = L .
(b) Similary, show that photon propagation time back along the x-arm is given by
Tback,x (t) = L +

1
2

h+ (t x) dx

(65)

where t is now the time when the photon reaches the vertex, x = 0.
(c) Thus, the total (i.e., round-trip) time can be written as
Ttot,x (t) := Tout,x (t L) + Tback,x (t)
Z
1 L
= 2L +
[h+ (t x) + h+ (t 2L + x)] dx
2 0

(66)
(67)

where t is the time when the photon is back at the vertex, x = 0.

Since a similar result holds for photon propagation down the y-arm (h+ is simply
replaced by h+ ), conclude that
Z

T (t) := Ttot,x (t) Ttot,y (t) =

[h+ (t x) + h+ (t 2L + x)] dx

(68)

(d) To do the integral, it is most convenient to Fourier transform the results to the
frequency domain using the defintion
Z

h(f ) =
dt h(t) ei2f t
(69)

) are a Fourier pair, so are h(t ) and h(f

) ei2f .)
(Note that if h(t) and h(f
Show that by Fourier transforming both sides of (68) and doing the integrals, one
finds
)
g (f ) = R(f )h(f
T
(70)
where
R(f ) := 2L sinc(2f L )ei2f L

(71)

is the frequency response of the interferometer to the passing +-polarized plane gravitational wave, incident from above. (Recall sinc(x) := sin(x)/x.)
(e) Plot |R(f )| versus frequency, showing that the magnitude of the response is maximum
when f = 0 (i.e., in the long-wavelength approximation) and vanishes when f =
1/(2L ), 1/L , 3/(2L ) , corresponding to an integer number of GW wavelengths
fitting in the length 2L .
5. Gravitational-wave energy flux for LIGO (Hartle, Problem 16.13):
The LIGO gravitational wave detectors expect to detect gravitational waves at frequencies
of 200 Hz that cause a dimensionless strain of L/L 1021 . What is the flux of energy
of such waves incident on Earth? If they come from 20 Mpc away, how fast was their
source losing energy to gravitational waves when they were emitted? How far away would
the Sun have to be to produce the same flux in electromagnetic radiation?

11

Gravitational waves: Details

1. Solution to wave equation with source term:
Show that the retarded solution to 2f = g is given by
Z
1
g(t |~x ~y |, ~y )
f (t, ~x) =
d3 y
.
4
|~x ~y |
Hint: Use
2

1
|~x ~y |

= 4 (3) (~x ~y )

(72)

(73)

2. Electric dipole radiation:

(a) By Taylor expanding the electric charge density as
(t |~x ~y |, ~y ) = (t r, ~y ) +

(t r, ~y ) n
~y +
t

(74)

where r := |~x| and n

:= ~x/r, show that the first two terms of the large-r solution to
2 = /0 in the Lorentz gauge is
(t, ~x) =

1
d~
p
1
Q(t r) +
n
(t r)
40 r
40 r
dt

(75)

where
Z
Q(t) := d3 y (t, ~y )
Z
p~(t) := d3 y (t, ~y ) ~y

(76)
(77)

are the total electric charge and total electric dipole moment (i.e., the first moment
of the electric charge density), respectively.
~ ~j = 0, show that that Q(t) is time(b) Using conservation of electric charge /t +
independent; i.e.,
dQ(t)
=0
(78)
dt
Hence, the first term in the large-r solution for is non-radiativei.e., there is no
electric monopole radiation.
~ ~j = 0, show that
(c) Using conservation of electric charge /t +
Z
d~
p(t)
= d3 y ~j(t, ~y )
(79)
dt
Hint: Multiply the conservation law by ~y and then integrate by parts, throwing away
any surface integrals that arise since we are assuming that the electric charge density
goes to zero outside of some finite volume.
(d) Using the result of the previous part, show that the leading order term of the large-r
~ = 0~j in the Lorentz gauge is
solution to the 2A
p
~ ~x) = 0 1 d~
(t r)
A(t,
4 r dt

(80)

(e) Show that the corresponding electric and magnetic fields are given by
d2 p~
~ x) = 0 n
B(t,
2 (t r) ,
4r
dt

~ ~x) =
~ ~x)
E(t,
n B(t,

(81)

~ and B
~ are perpendicular to one another and to the direction of propaNote that E
gation n
, and that they have the same magnitude.
12

3. Mass quadrupole radiation:

t = 16T t in the Lorentz
(a) Show that the large r, long wavelength solution to 2h
gauge is
t (t, ~x) = 4 P (t r)
h
(82)
r
where r := |~x| and
Z
P (t) :=

d3 y T t (t, ~y )

(83)

is the total energy-momentum 4-vector of the matter distribution.

(b) Using the linearised conservation law T = 0, show that that P (t) is timeindependent; i.e.,
dP (t)
=0
(84)
dt
t is non-radiativei.e., there is no
Hence, the large r, long wavelength solution for h
mass monopole or mass dipole radiation in GR.
(c) Using the linearised conservation law T = 0, show that
Z
Z
1 d2
d3 y T tt (t, ~y ) y i y j
d3 y T ij (t, ~y ) =
2 dt2

(85)

Hint: By repeated applications of the conservation law, first show that t t T tt =

k ` T k` . Then multiply this equality by y i y j and integrate by parts, throwing away
any surface integrals that arise since we are assuming that all components of the
stress-energy tensor go to zero outside of some finite volume.
(d) Using the result of the previous part, show that the large r, long wavelength solution
ij = 16T ij in the Lorentz gauge is
to 2h
2 ij
ij (t, ~x) = 2 d I (t r)
h
r dt2

(86)

where r := |~x| and

Z

I ij (t) :=

d3 y (t, ~y ) y i y j

(87)

is the mass quadrupole moment (i.e., the second moment of the mass density). [Note:
We are assuming that T tt is dominated by the mass density in the long wavelength
(i.e., slow motion) approximation.]
4. Angular integrals:
Show that
Z
Z

d2 n ni nj

d2 n ni nj nk n`

4 ij

3
4 ij k`
( + ik j` + i` jk )
15

Hint: Without doing any calculation, one can immediately write down
Z
d2 n ni nj = A ij
Z
d2 n ni nj nk n` = B ( ij k` + ik j` + i` jk )

(88)
(89)

(90)
(91)

since the integrals do not depend on ni (it is integrated over) and the RHSs are the most
general expressions that can be constructed out of ij s that reflect the symmetry of the
integrand. Evaluate A and B by contracting both sides with appropriate factors of ij .
13

5. Radiated power in electromagnetic waves:

The energy flux in electricity and magnetism is given by the Poynting vector
~ B
~
~ := 1 E
S
0

(92)

~ and by integrating S
~ n
Show that by using equation (81) to calculate S,
r2 d2 n over all
directions, the radiated power LEM := dE/dt is given by
LEM (t, r) =

0
p~(t r) p~(t r)
6

(93)

Hint: Use the results of an earlier problem to do the angular integrals.

6. Radiated power in GWs:
The energy flux for a gravitational wave propagating in the ni direction is given by
1 i D jk T T E
i
(GW)
n hT T hjk
=
(94)
32
where h i means an average over several periods of the wave, dot means partial derivative
wrt time, and hjk
T T are the transverse-traceless components of the metric perturbations
associated with ni .
(a) Using
hij
x) =
T T (t, ~

2 ij
I (t r)
r TT

and properties of the TT projection operator P ij = ij ni nj , show that

... k
...i` 
... i j
2 E
1 D ... ...ij
i
(GW)
ni =
2
I

4
I

n
I

n
+
Iij n n
ij
ik
`
16r2

(95)

(96)

(b) Show that by integrating the energy flux of a plane wave in the ni direction over all
directions through the surface of a 2-sphere of radius r, the radiated power LGW :=
dE/dt in the large r, long wavelength limit is given by
Z
E
...ij
1 D...
i
Iij (t r)I (t r)
(97)
LGW (t, r) := d2 n r2 ni (GW)
=
5
Hint: Use the results of an earlier problem to do the angular integrals.
7. Angular distribution of radiated power from binary stars (Hartle, Problem 23.9):
In lecture, we calculated the time-averaged power radiated in gravitational waves for a
binary star system in two directionsone normal to and one in the plane of the orbit. This
problem aims at calculating the complete angular distribution (the antenna pattern).
The time-averaged distribution will be symmetric about the axis of rotation because the
time-averaged source is axisymmetric. It is therefore necessary to calculate only the power
radiated in a diraction making an angle with the z-axis, which can be conveniently taken
to lie in the y-z plane. Proceed as follows:
(a) Rotate the spatial coordinates about the x-axis by an angle so that the new z-axis
makes an angle with the old one. Transform the gravitational wave perturbations

cos[2(t r)]
sin[2(t r)]
0
2
2
8
M
R
ij (t, ~x) =
sin[2(t r)] cos[2(t r)] 0
h
(98)
r
0
0
0
to this new coordinate system.
14

(b) Put the approximate plane wave propagating in the new z-direction in the TT gauge.
(c) Calculate the power radiated in the new z-direction, thereby getting the radiated
power as a function of . Check that your answer agrees with the two special cases
discussed in lecture. Draw a rough plot of the antenna pattern.
(d) Show that if you integrate the angular distribution of radiated power over the unit
sphere, you get
128 2 4 6
LGW =
M R
(99)
5

15