Gravitational energy in stationary spacetimes

DOI10.1088/0264-9381/23/23/030zbMATH Open1123.83011OpenAlexW3103285411WikidataQ125118872 ScholiaQ125118872MaRDI QIDQ3418992FDOQ3418992

Authors Joseph Katz, Donald Lynden-Bell, Jiří Bičák

Publication date 5 February 2007

Published in Classical and Quantum Gravity (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0610052

zbMATH Keywords

stationary spacetime gravitational energy

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Equations of motion in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C10) Exact solutions to problems in general relativity and gravitational theory (83C15) Gravitational energy and conservation laws; groups of motions (83C40)

Abstract: Static observers remain on Killing-vector world lines and measure the rest-mass+kinetic energies of particles moving past them, and the flux of that mechanical energy through space and time. The total mechanical energy is the total flux through a spacelike cut at one time. The difference between the total mass-energy and the total mechanical energy is the total gravitational energy, which we prove to be negative for certain classes of systems. For spherical systems, Misner, Thorne and Wheeler define the total gravitational energy this way. To obtain the gravitational energy density analogous to that of electromagnetism we first use Einstein's equations with integrations by parts to remove second order derivatives. Next we apply a conformal transformation to reexpress the scalar 3-curvature of the 3-space. The resulting density is non-local. We repeat the argument for mechanical energies as measured by stationary observers moving orthogonally to constant time slices like the "zero angular momentum" observers of Bardeen who exist even within ergospheres.

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