A non-minimally coupled, conformally extended Einstein-Maxwell theory of pp-waves

Abstract

A non-minimal coupling of Weyl curvatures to electromagnetic fields is considered in Brans-Dicke-Maxwell theory. The gravitational field equations are formulated in a Riemannian spacetime where the spacetime torsion is constrained to zero by the method of Lagrange multipliers in the language of exterior differential forms. The significance and ramifications of non-minimal couplings to gravity are examined in a pp-wave spacetime.