On the lower semicontinuity of the ADM mass (Q1693877)

Let \((M,g)\) be an asymptotically flat manifold. One can regard \((M,g)\) as an initial data set for the Einstein equations of general relativity and define the ADM mass to be the resulting total mass. The author shows that the ADM mass is lower semi-continuous for pointed Cheeger-Gromov convergence assuming there are no compact minimal surfaces and the scalar curvatures are non-negative. The author also shows that the ADM mass is lower semi-continuous in the topology of weak convergence (in the sense of currents) in the rotationally symmetric setting assuming the boundary to be either empty or a minimal surface and that there are no other compact minimal surfaces. The first section contains a historical summary and a statement of the problem. Section 2 contains examples illustrating some of the issues which arise in considering the convergence of asymptotically flat manifolds and the resulting behavior of the ADM mass. Section 3 deals with lower semi-continuity in the setting of pointed Cheeger-Gromov convergence and Section 4 deals with lower semi-continuity in the setting of weak convergence with rotational symmetry. Section 5 treats lower semi-continuity with rotational symmetry-intrinsic flat convergence.