Is the Hawking quasilocal energy ``Newtonian''? (Q2406259)

Summary: The Misner-Sharp-Hernandez mass defined in general relativity and in spherical symmetry has been recognized as having a Newtonian character in previous literature. In order to better understand this feature we relax spherical symmetry and we study the generalization of the Misner-Sharp-Hernandez mass to general spacetimes, i.e., the Hawking quasilocal mass. The latter is decomposed into a matter contribution and a contribution coming solely from the Weyl tensor. The Weyl tensor is then decomposed into an electric part (which has a Newtonian counterpart) and a magnetic one (which does not), which further splits the quasilocal mass into ``Newtonian'' and ``non-Newtonian'' parts. Only the electric (Newtonian) part contributes to the quasilocal mass.