v 1 1 6 Ju n 20 01 The Causality Principle in the Field Theory of Gravitation

The causality principle for the Relativistic Theory of Gravitation (RTG) is presented. It is a straightforward consequence of the RTG basic postulates. The necessary conditions for physical solutions of the gravitational field equations to be fulfilled are given. The Relativistic Theory of Gravitation [1] (RTG) as the field theory of gravitation is based on a hypothesis, that the gravitational field, as well as all other fields, propagates in the Minkowski space, and its source is such a universal conserving quantity as the energy-momentum tensor of all the matter, including the gravitational field itself. This approach allows one to uniquely construct a theory of the gravitational field as a gauge theory (within the framework of second order equations). A complete set of the RTG gravitational equations in a system of units ¯ h = c = G = 1 looks like γ αβ D α D β ˜ Φ µν + m 2 ˜ Φ µν = 16πt µν , (1) D ν ˜ Φ µν = 0. (2) Here γ αβ is a metric tensor of the Minkowski space in arbitrary coordinates ; ˜ Φ µν = √ −γΦ µν is a density of the gravitational field tensor; D µ is the covariant derivative of the Minkowski space; m is a rest mass of the gravitational field; t µν is a density of the energy-momentum tensor of all matter. Density of the matter energy-momentum tensor t µν consists of a density of the gravitational field energy-momentum tensor t µν g and a density of the 1