MAXWELL FIELDS IN ANISOTROPIC SPACETIMES

Maxwell's equations are rewritten with respect to anholonomic orthonormal frames and applied to the case when the background is described by a diagonal Bianchi Type I universe with line element [Formula: see text]. It is generally shown that solutions analogous to plane wave solutions in flat spacetime must obey two transversality conditions when the spacetime is anisotropic i.e., when at least one of the coefficients αj(t) differs from the others. Analytic solutions are presented for propagation along the respective coordinate axes and a special stiff fluid model. Furthermore, by use of a generally applicable ansatz the long- and short-time behavior of waves traveling in the axisymmetric Kasner universe have been investigated.