Energy Conservation in GTR |
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Institution: | 1. Center for Astronomy, University of Hyogo, Sayo-cho, Hyogo, 679-5313, Japan;2. former Institute of Laser Engineering, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan;3. Graduate School of Material Science, University of Hyogo, Hyogo, Japan |
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Abstract: | The topics of gravitational field energy and energy-momentum conservation in General Relativity theory have been unjustly neglected by philosophers. If the gravitational field in space free of ordinary matter, as represented by the metric gab itself, can be said to carry genuine energy and momentum, this is a powerful argument for adopting the substantivalist view of spacetime.This paper explores the standard textbook account of gravitational field energy and argues that (a) so-called stress-energy of the gravitational field is well-defined neither locally nor globally; and (b) there is no general principle of energy-momentum conservation to be found in General Relativity. I discuss the nature and justification of the zero-divergence law for ordinary stress-energy, and its possible connection with the failure of General Relativity to realise Mach's principle. |
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