Energy-Momentum Conservation in General Relativity

Dongsu Bak, D. Cangemi, R. Jackiw

Published 1993-10-05Version 1

We discuss general properties of the conservation law associated with a local symmetry. Using Noether's theorem and a generalized Belinfante symmetrization procedure in 3+1 dimensions, a symmetric energy-momentum (pseudo) tensor for the gravitational Einstein-Hilbert action is derived and discussed in detail. In 2+1 dimensions, expressions are obtained for energy and angular momentum arising in the $ISO(2,1)$ gauge theoretical formulation of Einstein gravity. In addition, an expression for energy in a gauge theoretical formulation of the string-inspired 1+1 dimensional gravity is derived and compared with the ADM definition of energy.