A new mass for asymptotically flat manifolds (Q457556)

Let \((M,g)\) be an asymptotically flat Riemannian manifold with a suitable decay order. The integrand in the 4-dimensional Chern-Gauss-Bonnet theorem is, modulo a suitable normalizing constant, \(E_4:=\tau^2-4\|\rho\|^2+\|R\|^2\). Assume that \(\int_ME_4\) is finite. The ADM mass is closely related to the scalar curvature. In the present paper, the authors use \(E_4\) to define the \textit{Gauss-Bonnet-Chern Mass} (GBC mass) in this setting if \(n\geq5\). They show under suitable hypothesis that the GBC mass is well defined and independent of the particular coordinate system chosen. They also show that the GBC mass is non-negative if \(M^n\) arises as a graph over \(\mathbb{R}^n\) in \(\mathbb{R}^{n+1}\) and obtain a Penrose type inequality in this setting. Section 1 contains an introduction to the matter at hand and presents the main results. In Section 2, the Lovelock curvatures and generalized Einstein tensors are presented. Section 3 treats the GBC mass and compares it with the ADM mass, Section 4 deals with the positive mass theorem in the graph case, Section 5 establishes a Penrose inequality for graphs on \(\mathbb{R}^n\), Section 6 treats generalized Schwarzschild metrics, Section 7 presents applications to the ADM mass, and Section 8 discusses generalizations, problems, and conjectures.