Related papers: How to make the gravitational action on non-compac…
We examine the recently proposed technique of adding boundary counterterms to the gravitational action for spacetimes which are locally asymptotic to anti-de Sitter. In particular, we explicitly identify higher order counterterms, which…
We present a modified version of the boundary counterterm method for removing divergences from the action of an asymptotically $AdS$ spacetime. The standard approach renders the action finite but leaves diffeomorphism invariance partially…
The divergences of the gravitational action are analyzed for spacetimes that are asymptotically anti-de Sitter and asymptotically flat. The gravitational action is rendered finite using a local counterterm prescription, and the relation of…
In this paper, the connection between the Lorentz-covariant counterterms that regularize the four-dimensional AdS gravity action and topological invariants is explored. It is shown that demanding the spacetime to have a negative constant…
As an alternative to the Dirichlet counterterms prescription, I introduce the concept of Kounterterms as the boundary terms with explicit dependence on the extrinsic curvature K_{ij} that regularize the AdS gravity action. Instead of a…
A consistent variational procedure applied to the gravitational action requires according to Gibbons and Hawking a certain balance between the volume and boundary parts of the action. We consider the problem of preserving this balance in…
It is common knowledge that the Einstein-Hilbert action does not furnish a well-posed variational principle. The usual solution to this problem is to add an extra boundary term to the action, called a counter-term, so that the variational…
A new local, covariant ``counter-term'' is used to construct a variational principle for asymptotically flat spacetimes in any spacetime dimension $ d \ge 4$. The new counter-term makes direct contact with more familiar background…
Although gravitational actions diverge in asymptotically AdS spacetimes, boundary counterterms can be added in order to cancel out those divergences; such counterterms are known in general to third order in the Riemann tensor for the…
A finite action principle for three-dimensional gravity with negative cosmological constant, based on a boundary condition for the asymptotic extrinsic curvature, is considered. The bulk action appears naturally supplemented by a boundary…
We obtain an Einstein metric of constant negative curvature given an arbitrary boundary metric in three dimensions, and a conformally flat one given an arbitrary conformally flat boundary metric in other dimensions. In order to compute the…
We propose to compute the action and global charges of the asymptotically anti-de Sitter solutions in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory by adding boundary counterterms to the gravitational action. The general expression of the counterterms and…
Counterterm actions are constructed along the ADM formalism. It is shown that the counterterm action can be intrinsically written in terms of intrinsic boundary geometry. Using the expression of counterterm action, we obtain a general form…
In this paper I present an action principle for odd dimensional AdS gravity which consists of introducing another manifold with the same boundary and a very specific boundary term. This new action allows and alternative approach to the…
The corrections to holographic entanglement entropy from bulk quantum fields in a classical gravitational background are now well understood. They lead, in particular, to unitary Page curves for evaporating black holes. However, the correct…
A definite form for the boundary term that produces the finiteness of both the conserved quantities and Euclidean action for any Lovelock gravity with AdS asymptotics is presented. This prescription merely tells even from odd bulk…
The addition of boundary counterterms to the gravitational action of asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes permits us to define the partition function unambiguously without background subtraction. We show that the inclusion of p-form…
The boundary stress tensor approach has proven extremely useful in defining mass and angular momentum in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spaces with CFT duals. An integral part of this method is the use of boundary counterterms to regulate…
Recent work has shown that the addition of an appropriate covariant boundary term to the gravitational action yields a well-defined variational principle for asymptotically flat spacetimes and thus leads to a natural definition of conserved…
We further explore the counter-term subtraction definition of charges (e.g., energy) for classical gravitating theories in spacetimes of relevance to gauge/gravity dualities; i.e., in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spaces and their kin. In…