Gravitational waves are ‘ripples’ in the fabric of space-time caused by some of the most violent and energetic processes in the Universe. Gravitational waves are invisible. However, they are incredibly fast. They travel at the speed of light. Gravitational waves squeeze and stretch anything in their path as they pass by.
Now, RUDN mathematicians analyzed the properties of gravitational waves in a generalized affine-metrical space and reported the possibility of transmitting information with the help of nonmetricity waves and transferring it spatially without distortions.
This discovery not only opened up an exciting new field of research but has opened the door to many intriguing possibilities. Scientists expect that the research could lead to a new means of data transfer in space.
With the end goal to describe gravitational waves, RUDN specialists utilized numerical deliberation—a affine space, i.e., a usual vector space yet without an origin of coordinates. They demonstrated that in such a numerical representation of gravitational waves, there are capacities that remain invariable during the time spent wave distribution. It is conceivable to set a subjective capacity to encode any data in around same way that electromagnetic waves exchange a radio signal.
In the event that researchers can develop a strategy to incorporate these developments in a wave source, they could achieve any point in space without change. Along these lines, gravitational waves could be utilized for data transfer. The examination comprised of three phases.
To start with, RUDN mathematicians ascertained the Lie derivative—a capacity that ties the properties of bodies in two unique spaces: an affine space and a Minkowski space. It enabled them to go from the description of waves in real space to their mathematical interpretation.
At the second stage, the specialists decided five arbitrary functions of time, i.e., the developments that don’t change in the procedure of dissemination of a wave. With their assistance, the characteristics of a wave can be set in a source, thus encoding any information. In another point in space, this data can be decoded, giving the likelihood of data exchange.
In the third stage, the specialists demonstrated the hypothesis of the structure of plane nonmetricity in gravitational waves. It worked out that from four dimensions of a wave (three spatial ones and one-time measurement), three can be utilized to encode an informational signal utilizing just a single function, and in the fourth measurement with use of two functions.
Nina V. Markova, a co-author of the work, candidate of physical and mathematical sciences, assistant professor of C.M. Nikolsky Mathematical Institute said, “We found that nonmetricity waves are able to transmit data similarly to the recently discovered curvature waves, because their description contains arbitrary functions of delayed time that can be encoded in the source of such waves (in a perfect analogy to electromagnetic waves).”
The study is published in the journal Classical and Quantum Gravity.