On variational principles for gravitating perfect fluids (Q1355149)

The connection is established between two different action principles for perfect fluids in the context of general relativity. For one of these action, \(S\), the fluid four-velocity is expressed as a sum of products of scalar fields and their gradients (the velocity-potential representation). For the other action, \(\overline S\), the fluid four-velocity is proportional to the totally anti-symmetric product of gradients of the fluid Lagrangian coordinates. The relationship between \(S\) and \(\overline S\) is established by expressing \(S\) in Hamiltonian form and identifying certain canonical coordinates as ignorable.