An explicit determination of the empty space-times on which the wave equation satisfies Huygens' principle

Abstract

AbstractThe validity of Huygens' principle in the sense of Hadamard's ‘minor premise’ is investigated for scalar wave equations on curved space-time. A new necessary condition for its validity in empty space-time is derived from Hadamard's necessary and sufficient condition using a covariant Taylor expansion in normal coordinates. A two component spinor calculus is then employed to show that this necessary condition implies that the plane wave space-times and Minkowski space are the only empty space-times on which the scalar wave equation satisfies Huygens' principle.