Related papers: Surface terms and the Gauss-Bonnet Hamiltonian
We give a general derivation of the gravitational hamiltonian starting from the Einstein-Hilbert action, keeping track of all surface terms. The surface term that arises in the hamiltonian can be taken as the definition of the `total…
The Einstein-Hilbert action has a bulk term and a surface term (which arises from integrating a four divergence). I show that one can obtain Einstein's equations from the surface term alone. This leads to: (i) a novel, completely self…
We give an explicit expression for gravitational energy, written solely in terms of physical spacetime geometry, which in suitable limits agrees with the total Arnowitt-Deser-Misner and Trautman-Bondi-Sachs energies for asymptotically flat…
We consider a first order formalism for general relativity derived from the Holst action. This action is obtained from the standard Palatini-Hilbert form by adding a topological-like term and can be taken as the starting point for loop…
The surface Hamiltonian corresponding to the surface part of a gravitational action has $xp$ structure where $p$ is conjugate momentum of $x$. Moreover, it leads to $TS$ on the horizon of a black hole. Here $T$ and $S$ are temperature and…
A dynamically preferred quasi-local definition of gravitational energy is given in terms of the Hamiltonian of a `2+2' formulation of general relativity. The energy is well-defined for any compact orientable spatial 2-surface, and depends…
The Hamiltonian for physical systems and dynamic geometry generates the evolution of a spatial region along a vector field. It includes a boundary term which not only determines the value of the Hamiltonian, but also, via the boundary term…
We discuss the concepts of energy and mass in relativity. On a finitely extended spatial region, they lead to the notion of quasilocal energy/mass for the boundary 2-surface in spacetime. A new definition was found in [27] that satisfies…
The quasilocal energy of gravitational and matter fields in a spatially bounded region is obtained by employing a Hamilton-Jacobi analysis of the action functional. First, a surface stress-energy-momentum tensor is defined by the functional…
{\sl A Hamiltonian framework for 2+1 dimensional gravity coupled with matter (satisfying positive energy conditions) is considered in the asymptotically flat context. It is shown that the total energy of the system is non-negative,…
The energy of gravitating systems has been an issue since Einstein proposed general relativity: considered to be ill defined, having no proper local density. Energy-momentum is now regarded as \emph{quasi-local} (associated with a closed…
The Hamiltonian for a gravitating region includes a boundary term which determines not only the quasi-local values but also, via the boundary variation principle, the boundary conditions. Using our covariant Hamiltonian formalism, we found…
The field equations of general relativity can be derived from the Einstein action, which is quadratic in connection coefficients, rather than the standard action involving the Gibbons-Hawking-York term and counterterm. We show that it is…
Gravity, and the puzzle regarding its energy, can be understood from a gauge theory perspective. Gravity, i.e., dynamical spacetime geometry, can be considered as a local gauge theory of the symmetry group of Minkowski spacetime: the…
This paper generalizes earlier work on Hamiltonian boundary terms by omitting the requirement that the spacelike hypersurfaces $\Sigma_t$ intersect the timelike boundary $\cal B$ orthogonally. The expressions for the action and Hamiltonian…
The Mann-Marolf surface term is a specific candidate for the "reference background term" that is to be subtracted from the Gibbons-Hawking surface term in order make the total gravitational action of asymptotically flat spacetimes finite.…
Quadratic Lagrangians are introduced adding surface terms to a free particle Lagrangian. Geodesic equations are used in the context of the Hamilton-Jacobi formulation of constrained sysytem. Manifold structure induced by the quadratic…
Hamilton-Jacobi theory provides a natural starting point for a covariant description of the gravitational field. Using a spatial gradient expansion, one may solve for the phase of the wavefunction by using a line-integral in superspace.…
The barotropic ideal fluid with step and delta-function discontinuities coupled to Einstein's gravity is studied. The discontinuities represent star surfaces and thin shells; only non-intersecting discontinuity hypersurfaces are considered.…
The gravitational energy-momentum and angular momentum satisfy the algebra of the Poincare group in the full phase space of the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity. The expression for the gravitational energy-momentum may be…