Electromagnetic wave tails on curved spacetime and their observational implications

We calculate the tail term of the electromagnetic potential of a pulsed source in arbitrary bounded motion in a weak gravitational field using a higher-order Green’s function approach and demonstrate that generally the received radiation tail arrives after a time delay which represents geometrical backscattering by the central gravitational source. We apply the results to a compact binary system and conclude that under certain conditions the tail energy can be a noticeable fraction of the direct pulse energy.