Covariant first-order Lagrangians, energy-density and superpotentials in general relativity (Q749902)

Motivated by the desire to remove an apparent contradiction inherent in the fact that though general relativity is governed by a second-order covariant Lagrangian, it behaves as a first-order theory and yet there is no first-order covariant Lagrangian which generates the correct field equations, the authors construct a class of covariant first-order Lagrangians for general relativity interacting with external matter fields. They investigate various properties of such Lagrangians and as an example they apply their method to calculate the mass and the angular momentum for the Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes.