Blueshift of light rays induced by gravitational wave memory effect

Abstract

The article deals with photon propagation in pp-wave spacetimes in the strong gravitational-wave regime and its consequences for redshift measurements. We show that null geodesics crossing a localized pp-wave pulse exhibit an energy memory effect, producing a finite asymptotic shift in the photon frequency measured by static observers. This path-dependent contribution acts directly on the redshift observable and may help account for divergent interpretations of supernova redshift data in the presence of intervening gravitational radiation.