Maxwell fields in anisotropic space-times

Maxwell's equations are rewritten with respect to anholonomic orthonormal frames and applied to the case when the background is described by a diagonal Bianchi-type I universe. It is shown that solutions analogous to plane wave solutions in flat space-time must obey two transversality conditions when the space-time is anisotropic. Analytic solutions are presented for propagation along the respective coordinate axes and a special stiff fluid model. Furthermore, by use of a generally applicable ansatz the long- and short-time behavior of waves traveling in the axisymmetric Kasner universe have been investigated. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics. [S0022-2488(98)03010-2].