Gravitational energy as Noether charge

dc.creatorHayward, Sean A.
dc.date2000-04-13
dc.date.accessioned2026-07-07T03:24:52Z
dc.date.available2026-07-07T03:24:52Z
dc.descriptionA definition of gravitational energy is proposed for any theory described by a diffeomorphism-invariant Lagrangian. The mathematical structure is a Noether- current construction of Wald involving the boundary term in the action, but here it is argued that the physical interpretation of current conservation is conservation of energy. This leads to a quasi-local energy defined for compact spatial surfaces. The energy also depends on a vector generating a flow of time. Angular momentum may be similarly defined, depending on a choice of axial vector. For Einstein gravity: for the usual vector generating asymptotic time translations, the energy is the Bondi energy; for a stationary Killing vector, the energy is the Komar energy; in spherical symmetry, for the Kodama vector, the energy is the Misner-Sharp energy. In general, the lack of a preferred time indicates the lack of a preferred energy, reminiscent of the energy-time duality of quantum theory.
dc.description4 pages, revtex
dc.identifierhttps://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0004042
dc.identifierhttp://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0004042
dc.identifier.urihttp://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/33505
dc.subjectGeneral Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
dc.titleGravitational energy as Noether charge
dc.typetext

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