The electromagnetic signature of gravitational wave interaction with the quantum vacuum

Abstract

An analysis of the effects of the passage of a gravitational wave (GW) on the quantum vacuum is made within the context of the Nexus paradigm of quantum gravity. Results indicate that if the quantum vacuum includes electrically charged virtual particle fields, then a GW will induce vacuum polarization. The equations of General Relativity (GR) are then reformulated to include electric charge displacements in the quantum vacuum imposed by an anisotropic stress — momentum tensor. It is then demonstrated that as a result of the spacetime piezoelectric effect, a gravitational wave is associated with a rotating electromagnetic wave and that the converse effect produced by strong electromagnetic fields is responsible for the generation of relativistic jets and gamma ray bursts. Objects with strong electromagnetic fields will apparently violate the strong equivalence principle.