Scattering of quantum particles by gravitational plane waves
Open Access
- 15 January 1991
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review D
- Vol. 43 (2) , 391-401
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.43.391
Abstract
We consider the coupling of quantum massless and massive scalar particles with exact gravitational plane waves. The cross section for scattering of the quantum particles by the waves is shown to coincide with the classical cross section for scattering of geodesics. The expectation value of the scalar field stress tensor between scattering states diverges at the points where classical test particles focus after colliding with the wave. This indicates that back-reaction effects cannot be ignored for plane waves propagating in the presence of quantum particles and that classical singularities are likely to develop.Keywords
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