Paper detail

On the Schrödinger equation for the free gravitational field

The Hamiltonian of the metric General Relativity derived in our earlier study (Gravitation, {\bf 17}, 314 - 323 (2011)) is analyzed by the methods of Matrix Quantum Mechanics. This Hamiltonian is a quadratic function of the momenta $π^{mn}$ conjugate to the spatial components $g_{mn}$ of the metric tensor $g_{αβ}$. The Hamiltonian is reduced to the new form which is more convenient to derive the Schrödinger equation for the free gravitational field. In turn, this Schrödinger equation is used to study possible motions of the free gravitational field(s). In particular, it is shown that harmonic oscillations of the free gravitational field, or harmonic gravitational waves, cannot be observed as an actual motion of this field. We also investigate the internal structure of the solitary gravitational wave.