The effect of metric behavior at spatial infinity on pointwise wave decay in the asymptotically flat stationary setting

Abstract: The current work considers solutions to the wave equation on asymptotically flat, stationary, Lorentzian spacetimes in (1+3) dimensions. We investigate the relationship between the rate at which the geometry tends to flat and the pointwise decay rate of solutions. The case where the spacetime tends toward flat at a rate of $|x|^{-1}$ was studied in \cite{tat2013}, where a $t^{-3}$ pointwise decay rate was established. Here we extend the result to geometries tending toward flat at a rate of $|x|^{-\kappa}$ and establish a pointwise decay rate of $t^{-\kappa-2}$ for $\kappa \in \mathbb{N}$ with $\kappa \ge 2$. We assume a weak local energy decay estimate holds, which restricts the geodesic trapping allowed on the underlying geometry. We use the resolvent to connect the time Fourier Transform of a solution to the Cauchy data. Ultimately the rate of pointwise wave decay depends on the low frequency behavior of the resolvent, which is sensitive to the rate at which the background geometry tends to flat.