Boundary Conditions at Infinity for Physical Theories

Andrzej Trautman

Published 2016-04-11Version 1

The Sommerfeld boundary conditions, imposed on hyperbolic differential equations to obtain solutions in the form of outgoing waves, are formulated here so as to make explicit the role of an appropriate null vector field. When applied to the scalar and Maxwell equations, they lead to the asymptotic form of the energy-momentum tensor representing radiation as a null, perfect dust.