Maxwell’s equations in an expanding universe

Abstract

Schrödinger’s classical solutions of Maxwell’s equations in an expanding universe with positive spatial curvature are reformulated in terms of gorup theory. Euler angles are used as coordinates in spherical space; the equations satisfied by the components of the complex electromagnetic field tensor are then given in terms of Euler angles. It is shown that if the fundamental modes of the electromagnetic field are appropriately chosen, certain components of the tensor are given by matrix elements of the irreducible representations of the group SU(2).