Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: In general relativity, the geometric optics approximation describes the propagation of high-frequency electromagnetic waves along null geodesics. Beyond this approximation, localized wave packets acquire frequency- and polarization-dependent corrections to null geodesic motion, described by the gravitational spin Hall equations. In this paper, these equations are integrated analytically, to first order in wavelength, in a large class of type D black hole spacetimes, whenever the corresponding null geodesics admit analytic solutions. The same framework yields analytic expressions for the shape of black hole shadows with polarization-dependent corrections.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Author: Oancea, Marius A.
Institution: University of Vienna
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7220906152