Revista Brasileira de Física, Vol.

8, NP 3, 1978
The Use of Exterior Forms in Einstein's Gravitation Theory
W. THIRRING and R. WALLNER
lnstitut fur Theoretische Physik, Universitat Wien

Recebido em 3 de Maio de 1978

We use C a r t a n l s c a l c u l u s t o r e f o r m u l a t e t h e general v a r i a t i o n a l prin-

c i p l e and c o n s e r v a t i o n laws i n terms o f e x t e r i o r forms. I n a p p l y i n g t h i s
method t o E i n s t e i n ' s g r a v i t a t i o n t h e o r y , we do n o t o n l y benefit from
t h e g r e a t economy o f C a r t a n l s formal ism b u t a l s o g a í n a deeper unders-
t a n d i ng o f fundamental r e s u l ts a1 ready knoQn. So t h e e x i s t e n c e o f su-
p e r p o t e n t i a l - f o r m s may be deduced f r o m d o d E O and as a consequence
t h e v a n i s h i n g o f t o t a l energy and momentum i n a c l o s e d u n i v e r s e i s a f -
f i r m e d i n a more general way. Simple e x p r e s s i o n s f o r t h e sundry super-
p o t e n t i a l s a r e o b t a i n e d q u i t e n a t u r a l l y . As a byproduct, E i n s t e i n ' s e-
q u a t i o n s a r e r e w r i t t e n i n a f o r m where t h e c o d e r i v a t i v e o f a 2 - f o r m ( t h e
s u p e r p o t e n t i a l - f o r m ) i s a c u r r e n t , and t h e r e f o r e resembles t h e inhomo-
geneous Maxwell e q u a t i o n s . I n p a s s i n g f r o m t h e Lagrangian t o t h e H a m i l -
t o n i a n 4-form, we immediately e n t e r t h e ADM formal ism wi t h o u t l e n g t h y
calculations.

Usamos o cã I c u l o de Cartan p a r a r e f o r m u l a r o ~ r i n c Í ~ vi aor i a c i o n a l ge-

r a l e as l ei s de conserva ç ão em termos de formas e x t e r i o r e s . Apl i cando
esse método à t e o r i a de g r a v i t a ç ã o de E i n s t e i n , não somente nos bene-
f i c i a m o s da grande economia do c á l c u l o de ~ a r t a ncomo também adqui r i -
MS uma compreensão mais profunda de r e s u l tados fundamentais jã conhe-
c i d o s . Assim, a e x i s t ê n c i a de formas s u p e r p o t e n c i a i s pode s e r deduzida
de d o d 3 O e, como c o n ~ e ~ u ê n c i aa, anulação da e n e r g i a e d o momento t o -
t a i s em um u n i v e r s o fechado é e s t a b e l e c i d a de uma maneira mais g e r a l .
Expressões s i mpl es p a r a os s u p e r p o t e n c i a i s e s p e c í f i c o s são o b t i d a s de
uma manei r a n a t u r a 1 . Como subproduto, as equações de Ei n s t e i n são rees-
c r i t a s de uma mane i r a semelhante 2s de Maxwel l i nomogêneas, em que a
coderivada de uma 2-forma ( a forma s u p e r p o t e n c i a l ) é uma c o r r e n t e . P a s -
sando da 4-forma Lagrangeana ii H a m i l t o n i a n a , chegamos imediatamente ao
formalismo ADM sem m u i t o s c á l c u l o s .
1. INTRODUCTION

Frequently, e x t e r i o r forms are believed t o p l a y an e s s e n t i a l r o l e i n

physics (as wel l as i n mathematics) , because they a r e q u a n t i t i e s c l o -
s e l y connected w i t h i n t e g r a t i o n and a r e t h e r e f o r e w e l l s u i t e d f o r ex-
pressing the physical laws o f nature. But they a l s o p r o v i d e a v e r y e l e -
gant and economic c a l c u l a t i o n technique, surmarized i n Cartan's forma-
l ism which makes the physical laws n o t o n l y n i c e r b u t a l s o e a s i e r t o
survey. Moreover, i n view o f the de Rham cohomology, they a r e expected
t o procure one o f the b e s t ways t o j o i n physics t o t h e topology o f the
underlyin'g mani f o l d .

A1 though Cartan's formal i sm comes i n t o e f f e c t more and more, some o f i t s

p r o p e r t i e ! j a r e s t i l l unknown t o p h y s i c i s t s o r are n o t expressed i n the
most convenient manner. We t h e r e f o r e summarize t h e e s s e n t i a l f a c t s i n
Appendix A, where o u t n o t a t i o n i s explained.

Appendi ces €3 and C a r e o n l y concerned wi t h some expl i c i t calculations

dropped i n t h e main t e x t .

I n Section 2, we review the v a r i a t i o n a l principie i n terms o f e x t e r i o r

forms and apply i t t o E i n s t e i n ' s g r a v i t a t i o n theory. The connection o f
conservation laws and superpotential- forms i s e x h i b i t e d i n Section 3.
Brief!y, the existence o f superpotential- forms i s a consequence o f the
fundamental i d e n t i t y d o d z O ( o r " the boundary o f a boundary i s zero':
see ~ e f . 1 ) . Usual l y , f o r pure g r a v i t a t i o n o n e - s t a r t s w i t h the contrac-
t e d Bianchi i d e n t i t i e s 2

where J' := T
" e corresponds t o the energy-momenturn tensor o r Eins-
t e i n - t e n s o r r e s p e c t i v e l y , by the E i n s t e i n equations. Because t h i s c o v a -
r i a n t l o c a l law (1.1) does not, i n general, lead t o g l o b a l l y conserved
q u a n t i ' t i e s (~efs.3,4,12), one t r i e s t o f i n d a 1-form tU € El, so t h a t
Obviously, xt' i s unique o n l y up t o closed 3-forms. Furthermore, from
(1.2) ,' i t i s clear that tY does not t r a n s f o r m homogeneously under chan-
ge o f the b a s i s (2.3) (below) , so t h a t the corresponding tensor tuv(t'
v
:= t U e*) wi l l be c a l l e d a pseudotensor. Howeuer, once such a tY has
been found, we have as a consequence the conservations laws

w i t h conserved c u r r e n t s 'J + t y But from t h e i d e n t i t y (1.31, one i n f e r s

the e x i s t e n c e o f an exact 3-form, say -d * s', so t h a t

But f rom ( I .4) one derives n o t o n l y the conservation law (1.3), b u t the
stronger statement (S a F d i m e n s i o n a l submanifold C

whence the t o t a l energy and momentum o f a s p a c e l i k e hypersurface may be

expressed as a surface i n t e g r a l . Moreover, i f S i s compact and w i t h a u t
boundary (aS = 0 ) and 'S i s global l y d e f i n e d on S, then

t h a t i s , the t o t a l energy and momentum i n a closed universe a r e zero.

Thi s shows t h a t , f o r instance, the "energy" concept has b a s i c a l l y a t o -
p o l o g i c a l background and may be c o r r e l a t e d w i t h t o p o l o g i c a l i n v a r i a n t s .
I n p a r t i c u l a r , we w i l l see t h a t the g l o b a l e x i s t e n c e o f 'S depends on
the t o p o l o g i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of S , as w i l l be discussed i n Section 5,
where we sketch our t o p o l o g i c a l assumptions and j u s t i f i c a t i o n s . T o c o n -
clude, we deal i n Section 4 w i t h a simple d e r i v a t i o n o f the ADM-Hamil-
t o n i a n i n terms o f e x t e r i o r forms.
2. THE VARIATIONAL PRINCIPLE

L e t $A CE
P'A
(H 4 ), A = 1,2,. ..,N, denote a s e t o f p-forms which canple-
t e l y describe a p h y s i c a l system, where N i s the nurnber o f a l g e b r a i c a l -
l y independent f i e l d s . L e t us f u r t h e r assume t h a t the equations o f o u r
theory may be d e r i v e d frm an a c t i o n i n t e g r a l

by the v a r i a t i o n a l p r i n c i p l e

(compact A). Because o f the i n v a r i a n t "form" ( i n a double sense) o f the

Lagrangian L 6 E under niere change o f the basis,
4

the theory w i l l be already c o v a r i a n t . The second type o f gauge trans-

formation besides (2.3) which wi 11 be d e a l t w i t h , i s the (say, arbi- ,
t r a r i l y small) coordinate t r a n s f o r m a t i o n (5 = cue 6 E ).
u 1

Frequently, we w i l l a l s o assume (2.3) t o be i n f i n i t e s i m a l ,

and t h e r e f o r e use

6eu = a'lv ev . (2.61

Note, t h a t i f we are n o t d e a l i n g w i t h a coordinate basis (i.e.,e'=dzu)

(2.6) and (2.4) a r e independent one o f each o t h e r . As usual 4 , we i n t r o -
duce t h e ittcbtal v a r i a t i o n i '
which comrnutes w i t h o r d i n a r y d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n when a p p l i e d t o f u n c t i o n s
Moreover, 6 as w e l l as 5 c o m u t e w i t h t h e e x t e r i o r d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n be-
cause o f t h e b a s i s - i n v a r i a n t p r o p e r t y o f d . Now, (2.2) together with
(2.7) ledd t o the i d e n t i t y

6 L = 6 ~ + 2 ( c ) L z 0 ,

o r , a f t e r c a r r y i n g out the v a r i a t i o n ,

6% , * + d * t(t) I O ,

whe r e

a r e t h e usual Euler-Lagrange express i o n s and

t h e c a n o n i c a l pseudo-energy-momentum c u r r e n t , "pseudo" because o f the

p o s s i b l y inhomogeneous t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s p r o p e r t y o f @ According t o P.
A'
A
G . k3ergmann5, we r e f e r t o weakly ( i . e . modulo t h e f i e l d e q u a t i o n s * E
=O) conserved * t ( ~ )as t o t h e g e n e r a t o r ( g e n e r a t i n g 3- form) o f t h e i n -
f i n i tesimal transformations 6. T h i s p o i n t o f v i e w stems frorn a n a l y t i c a l
mechanics, where t h e c o n s t a n t s o f motiori o f a system a r e i d e n t i c a l w i t h
the generators o f i n f i n i t e s i m a l canonical transformations.

Now we t u r n t o E i n s t e i n ' s g e n e r a l r e l a t i v i t y . A c c o r d i n g t o t h e tradi-

t i o n a l view6, we r e g a r d t h e b a s i s I-for,ms ( e ' } ~ El as p l a y i n g t h e ro-
l e o f g r a v i t a t i o n a l p o t e n t i a l s and t h e c o n n e c t i o n f o r m wa 6 El, defi-
ned by
as corresponding t o t h e f i e l d s t r e n g t h s . Because o f the inhomogeneous
a
transformation property o f w under (2.3),
B

we should r a t h e r use t h e c u r v a t u r e 2- forms RaB f E

2

where t h e inhomogeneous terms d r o p o u t , and c o n s t r u c t o u t o f i t an i n -

v a r i a n t Lagrangian ,Li-form. The most g e n e r a l e x p r e s s i o n i n f o u r dimen-
s i o n s l e a d i n g t o second o r d e r e q u a t i o n s i n t h e g is7
aB

I f we n e g l e c t ( f o r s i m p l i c i t y ) t h e cosmological term A E and observe

t h a t t h e c:oeff i c i e n t s o f a and B ( b e i n g e s s e n t i a l l y e x a c t , see Appendix
~ . d )equat:e t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g Euler-Lagrange e x p r e s s i o n s ( 2 . 1 0 ) i d e n t i -
c a l l y t o 2:ero ( ~ e f s . 7 , 9 , 2 4 ) , we a r e l e f t w i t h t h e f r e e ( ~ u r egeometri-
c a l ) E i n s t . e i n i a n Lagrangian .

An independent v a r i a t i o n o f e gaB and w" leads t o 6 (see bppendixB.a)

B

where G ' := G"" eu i s t h e E i n s t e i n - f o r m , i t s components foríning the

E i n s t e i n - t e n s o r (see (3. 1 5 ) ) . The i d e n t i t y (2.9) then becomes

- -1
2
where

By t h e Bianchi i d e n t i t i e s

t h e q r i a t i o n a l d e r i v a t i v e L wi t h respect t o the b a s i s obeys the con-

t r a c t e d Bianchi i d e n t i t i e s

D * G ~ EO , (2.21)

which can a l s o be deduced from t h e i n v a r i a n c e p r o p e r t y o f (2.11, (see

~ e.8)f .

3. CONSERVATION LAWS AND SUPERPOTENTIAL-FORMS

L e t {e? be a c o o r d i n a t e b a s i s (e" h'). Then by 6eFl = dcFl- d i ( ~ ) & '

= O, we o b t a i n (see Ref. 9 f o r instante)

~ h e r e 6 ~ :=(zgrB);y of course. By ( 3 . 1 )
r8; Y
, the canon i c a l pseudo-cur-
r e n t * t ( c ) then becomes (see Appendix B.b)

where G(<) := G E' f E. and G E El. Although * t ( b i s only weakly

4'
conserved, the expression
i s a stronigly conserved q u a n t i t y , t h a t i s , i r r e s p e c t i v e o f any f i e l d e-
quation, ;rJ(c,) obeys

and therefore we have associated a ; s t r o n g ly conserved quanti t y wi t h an

i n f i n i tesimal coordinates transformation. However, by (2.18), this is
unique o n l y up t o closed 3-forms, so we can a l s o d e f i n e another pseudo-
-current , by

Evaluating the ríghthand s i d e o f (3:s) i n components, one obtains , at

once
d * d~ = (E,; - Evil) * ev . (3.6)

The cornponent s a r e known as formi ng Komar's general i zed energy f l u x vec-

t o r E'(S) (besides f a c t o r -2, which comes from another choice o f
u n i t s ; see Ref.10. L e t 5' be constant i n the e -basis ( t h i s i s p o s s i b l e
Fi
because of' the a r b i t r a r i n e s s o f 5 i n (2.4)), (3.5) becomes

the I1Mdller-form", because i t s components i n a coordinate b a s i s

are 1 / J q times t h e o r i g i n a l M m l l e r - p o t e n t i a l x Fi (Refs. 11, 2 ) ,

xpvp = vyVP .. (3.10)

I n general, the superpotential- forms may be introduced as f o l lows. From

(3.1), t h e s y m e t r y o f G'" and by t h e c o n t r a c t e d Bianchi i d e n t i t i e s (2.
211, one o b t a i n s o u t o f (2.18) the i d e n t i t y

d b G(E) + * t(t)] r O . (3.11)

B u t f r o m t h e i d e n t i t y one i n f e r s t h e e x i s t e n c e o f an e x a c t 3-form, say

-d * S ( C ) , wh i c h a l l o w s us t o w r i t e

*G(s) + *t(d = - d * s(d, (3.12)

where, wi t h o u t l o s s o f g e n e r a l i t y we choose S(E) C E2 t o be l i n e a r i n 5,

t h a t i s S(E) := E's~, Sy f E2.

L e t f o r a moment 5' be c o n s t a n t again. Then, f r o m 3.12) and (3.21, it

follows that

.- (3.13)
* JFi .- *
Thus we see, t h a t S i s a c t u a l l y t h e analogy o f t h e so c a l l e d " superpo-
L'
".
t e n t i a l s " ( ~ e f s . 4 , 5 , 1 2 ) , w h e r e f o r e we c a l 1 S a " s u p e r p o t e n t i a l - f o r m
lJ
Note, t h a t t h e e x i s t e n c e o f t h i s " s u p e r p o t e n t i a l s " f o l l o w s from t h e fun-
damental i d e n t i t y d o d 0.

Instead o f c a l c u l a t i n g S e x p l i c i t l y from (3.12) by (3.2), we use a mo-

lJ
r e d i r e c t and more e l e g a n t way t o f i n d i t o u t 8 :

The s i m p l e s t Lagrangian c o n n e c t i n g geometry and m a t t e r i s (88 times g r a -

v i t a t i o n a l c o n s t a n t =: I : = c )

whereby we o b t a i n (see (2.17))

where J corresponds t o t h e energy-momentum c u r r e n t .

F,
We can r e w r i t e (3.15) as an e q u a t i o n l i k e t h e inhomogeneous Maxwell e-
q u a t i o n where t h e c o d e r i v a t i v e o f a 2 - f o r m i s a current. To t h i s end,
we w r i t e t h e c u r v a t u r e form as i n (2. 14) and r e w r i t e t h e f i r s t term i n
(3.15) like this

R e t a i n i n g o n l y t h e e x a c t form on t h e l e f t , we o b t a i n 8

where

and

Comparing (3.17) wi t h (3.13), we r e d i s c o v e r . t h e superpotential- form S

v.
Because * t c o n s i s t s o f p u r e geornetric terms, t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f (3.
Fi
17) i s t h a t t h e c u r r e n t s o f energy ( ~ i = 0 ) and momentum ( ~ = 1 , 2 , 3 ) have a
c o n t r i b u t i o n o f m a t t e r ( J ) and one o f g r a v i t a t i o n (t). Note, t h a t from

(3.15) up t o t h i s stage we a r e n o t concerned w i t h any c o o r d i n a t e b a s i s .

However, i f we examine t h e s u p e r p o t e n t i a i - f o r m (3.18) i n such a c o o r d i -
n a t e b a s i s , i t s components can be r e a d i l y c a l c u l a t e d (see Appendix 0.c)

This i s 1
J-g-/.() times t h e w e l l known von Freud e x p r e s s i o n f o r t h e su-
p e r p o t e n t i a l (Re f s . 13, 12,2):

o u t o f which severa1 pseudotensors may be c o n s t r u c t e d . For instance, t h e

695
Landau- Lifschitz- forn *trL i s o b t a i n e d by e x t r a c t i n g 1 / 6 oYt o f d*S :
Fi

Therefore, we have

(where tu := g" t ) , o r i n components corresponding t o a coordinate ba-

sis:

AI though i t i s obvious f rom (3.25) (compare Landau-Lifschi t z 1 4 ) , we pro-

ve i n Appendix C the equivalente o f t:L t o the Landau- Lifschi t z pseudo-
- t e n s o r . There we c a l c u l a t e t h e components tLLUV
because a) we had never
seen i t expl i c i t l y given and b ) t o show the splendour o f the modern Car-
tan f o m a l i s r n and the m i s e r i e s o f the c l a s s i c a l tensor calculus.

I n a coordinate basis, * t LL leads t o a symmetri c energy-rnomentum ex-

pression, so i t wi I I be a good (but n o t necessary, see Ref.15) candida-
t e f o r a s u i t a b l e angular mmentum expression. F u r t h e r note,. t h a t * tu
and * tLL c o i n c i d e i n a b a s i s o f constant >/-g (because waa = &/2g).

Writing S i n the form (8.18) (see Appendix B)

Fi

and keeping o n l y the f i r s t term on the l e f t h a n d s i d e o f (3.171, we g e t

i n a coordinate basis
which l e a d us a g a i n t o t h e M d l l e r - f o r m V = de
Ft P
.
Note, t h a t i n t h i s way
E i n s t e i n ' s e q u a t i o n s a r e c a s t i n e x a c t l y t h e same f o r m as Maxwell ' S e-
quations A& = J, A = p o t e n t i a l , J = c u r r e n t .

Now, from e q u a t i o n (3.27) we read o f f t h a t t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s (2.31, which

do n o t chenge t h e t i m e d i r e c t i o n e O , l e a v e -ro := Jo + t ounchanged, t h a t
i s , .r t r a n s f o r m s 1i k e a 4 - v e c t o r under these t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s . I n par-
o i behave 1i k e a s c a l a r and 3 - v e c t o r under
ticular, r O and r arbitrary
o O
s p a t i a l t i - a n s f o r m a t i o n s and a r e t h e r e f o r e w e l l s u i t e d f o r a consistent
i n t e r p r e t e t i o n as l o c a l i z e d energy and momentum d e n s i t y ( ~ e f s . 11, 10).
T h i s o u t s t a n d i n g p r o p e r t y o f t h e M d l l e r e x p r e s s i o n has l e d A . Komar to
c o n s t r u c t h i s " general i z e d e n e r g y - f l u x v e c t o r " , which we a1 ready deduced
f r o m t h e v a r i a t i o n a l p r i n c i p l e ( e q u a t i o n s (3.3) and (3.6)).

We remark a g a i n t h e s t r i k i n g analogy t o t h e Maxwell e q u a t i o n s , where 5

corresponds t o t h e p o t e n t i a l A. If 5 r e f e r s t o a r i g i d time translation,
we r e t u r n t o t h e M d l l e r case.

Sundry e x p r e s s i o n s 1i k e (3.17) which b a s i c a l l y r e s t e d on the existence

o f s u p e r p o t e n t i a l - f o r m s by d o d - 0 , have t h e important property that
one can n o t o n l y deduce t h e c o n s e r v a t i o n law (1.3) b u t a1 so t h e s t ronger
statement (1.5), t h a t i s , t h e p o s s i b i 1i t y o f e x p r e s s i n g t o t a l energy and
momentum o f a spacel i ke h y p e r s u r f a c e as s u r f a c e i n t e g r a l s and t h a t , f o r
instance, they vanish i n a closed universe.

4. THE HAMILTONIAN

I n t h i s S e c t i o n , we s h a l l d e a l w i t h t h e f r e e case ( J =~ O ) . Therefore,
t h e term "energy"only r e f e r s t o t h e energy o f t h e g r a v i t a t i o n a l field,
n o t matter.

S t a r t i n g f r o m a Lagrangian 4-form i n ( 2 . 1 ) , one u s u a l l y changes t o t h e

Hami 1 toniein forma1 ism t h r o u g h a L e g e n d r e - t r a n s f o r m a t i o n
by which one passes from t h e " c o n f i g u r a t i o n space" t o theU1phasespace",
A
wi t h p o i n t s g i v e n by ( + A , ~) .~ B u t t o c a r r y t h i s o u t i n o u r formalism,
one has t o know what t h e d o t í n (4 . 1) ( t h e " time - d e r i v a t i v e " ) stands
f o r , t h a t i s , t o single out a.time d i r e c t i o n . L e t us s p e c i a l i z e t o ge-
n e r a l r e l a t i v i t y and r e c a l l t h a t o u r b a s i c v a r i a b l e s a r e n o t t h e m e t r i c
c o e f f i c i e n t s b u t r a t h e r t h e b a s i s 1- forms e where the time direction
v'
may be ( l o c a l l y ) chosen t o be r e p r e s e n t e d by e0 or e
O
. To rnake t h i s
c h o i c e t r a n s p a r e n t , we pass o v e r t o a Gaussian ("comoving" o r "synchro-
nous", see ~ e f 1)
. basis (;'I, where t h e s p l i t t i n g o f t i m e and space d i -
r e c t i o n s becomes more g r a p h i c. T h i s b a s i s may be d e f i n e d by

I n terms o f t h i s b a s i s leu}, the metric g = e' 8 e \ p l i t s into

whe r e

corresponds t o t h e " p r o j e c t i o n o p e r a t o r " o r t h o g o n a l t o éo .

( ~ e f3 ) .
If
éC 3
t h e r e is a h y p e r s u r f a c e S C M ~ ,such t h a t
IS = O, then
gp may be
i n t e r p r e t e d as t h e " f i r s t fundamental form" ( n o t f o r m i n t h e sense 6 E )
P
on t h a t h y p e r s u r f a c e .

Because o f &he s i m p l e decomposition o f t h e n i e t r i c i n (4.2), one irnmedi-

a t e l y o b t a i n s f o r t h e 'connection 1-forms
 where 3d rneans e x t e r i o r d e r i v a t i v e w i t h respect t o E (S)
P
. Before decom-
posing tht? c u r v a t u r e form R i n the same way, l e t us assume ( f o r sim-
aB
p l i c i ty) ,:ep
= &'I t o be a coordinate basis, f y p } being the Gaussian
c o o r d i n a t e systern. L e t S be given by y 0 = constant (a hypersurface of
proper time simul tanei t y ) . Then é0 i s the uni t hypersurface o r t h o n o n a l
and the "riecond fundamental form". o f S ( o r " e x t e r i o r curvature" ) i s de-
f i ned by

where K
i
r :K Pii s given by ( r e c a l l . E ( z ~ ) z=~

.
I$ .=- -
2 a(ZO)Bi = wo i

wi l l be c a l l e d " e x t e r i o r curvature form" (although " e x t e r i o r connection

form" would be a more a p p r o p r i a t e t e n i n o l o g y ) . Note, t h a t by (4.7). $
represents the (proper-1 time d e r i v a t i v e o f the ei ' s off the hypersur-
face S. Therefore, we s h a l l decompose the Lagrangian (2.16) in tens of
fek,Kz). This can easi l y be done by using the,Gauss - Codazzi equations,
'which we w r i t e l i k e t h i s :

- -
%i = DK.z = 3 ~ ~+ i ( K ~ +
~ : K, ~ Kjk)e
-0k
, (4.8)

where 3 i and 3ii k are the c o v a r i a n t e x t e r i o r d e r i v a t i v e and i t s corres-

ponding curvature form With respect t o E (S), the v e r t i c a l bars denoting
P
the component n o t a t i o n o f 30.

I n s e r t i n g (4.8) i n t o (2.16) leads t o

The main advantage o f (4.11) i s , t h a t the time d e r i v a t i v e s K. are sin-
- 2 .
g l e d out and one can compute the " conjugate momentum" o f ek as

k
o r i n cmponent n o t a t i o n ( r f El)

i
where t r K : = K i' Therefore, we o b t a i n the Hami 1 tonian 4-form

o r , when (4.11) and (4.12) are i n s e r t e d i n t o (4.13)

H= - d(Kk" * ;Ok) - 7
1 ( k3-R
i + Ki A 4 ) " * -ei k , (4.14)

whi ch by (4.9) once more reduces t o

where G0 i s t h e z e r o t h Einstein- form, w r i t t e n i n the Gaussian basis (i.']:

I f we express the Gaussian basis (iu]i n t e m o f any basis @I accc r-

ding t o (2.3), there a r e o n l y f o u r f u n c t i o n s 'N s u f f i c i e n t t o determine
A ' ~ , which may be w r i t t e n as
o r expl i c i i ' t l y

where N : 5 N o and N i ( i = 1,2,3) are t h e lapse and s h i f t f u n c t i o n s (see

Refs. 1, 16). C l e a r l y , {e') i s Gaussian i f f N = 1 and N
i= O f o r a11 i .
By (4.18), t h e m e t r i c c o e f f i c i e n t s i n terms of {e', fl'3 a r e w r i t t e n as

k
where t h e i n d i ces o f N are r a i s e d and lowered by t h e components o f 3g.
Usually, (4.19) i s t h e s t a r t i n g p o i n t o f a canonical treatment o f gene-
ral relativity.

For instance, (4.7) reads i n terms o f { e ' , ~ ' ) (using (2.13))

which leads t o the w e l l known equationl

where the e x t r i n s i c curvature i s expressed i n terms o f the ADM lapseand

s h i f t functions.

t h e homogeneous .transformation p r o p e r t y o f 'G (see (3.15)) and by (4.

,, we o b t a i n immediately f o r the Hami 1 tonian i n terms o f {e', N u ) the
express ion
 (4.16), H' may be alsO e a s i l y expressed i n terms o f K" and 3~ (see
f . 1). We o m i t i t as w e l l as t h e f u r t h e r c a n o n i c a l treatment, since
t h e l i n e i s c l e a r and f o l l o w s c l o s e l y t h e ADM f o r m u l a t i o n of gravity
( ~ e f s . l , l 6 ) . W r i t i n g t h e Lagrangian (4.11) i n the basis {e'}, it turns
o u t t h a t t h e r e a r e no 4' i n v o l v e d and t h e r e f o r e no c a n o n i c a l momenta t o
N' do appear. T h i s leads t o t h e p r i m a r y c o n s t r a i n t s a~/afi' =Owhich in-
d i c a t e t h a t t h e N' p l a y t h e r o l e o f mere Lagrangian m u l t i p l i e r s . T h e f a c t
t h a t t h e p r i m a r y c o n s t r a i n t s h o l d f o r any space- time p o i n t leads d i r e c -
t l y t o t h e more s e r i o u s secondary o r dynamical c o n s t r a i n t s H
' =O, which
i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e c o n j u g a t e v a r i a b l e s cannot be a r b i t r a r y on an i n i t i a l
hypersurface, t h a t is, n o t a l l o f t h e canonical v a r i a b l e s are "true1&,i.
e., dynamical. But t h i s i s e x a c t l y what has t o be expected s i n c e , b y t h e
g e n e r a l c o v a r i ance o f t h e theory, t h e Lagrangian must be s i n g u l a r , wh i c h
leads t o c o n s t r a i n t s when p a s s i n g t o a c a n o n i c a l f o n a l i s m . Finally,the
r e s t o f t h e H a m i l t o n i a n f i e l d e q u a t i o n s may be d e r i v e d f r o m v a r y i n g (4.
11) wi t h r e s p e c t t o ék and s
k
. Because o f (4.23a,b) t h e y reproduce the
reinaining E i n s t e i n e q u e t i o n s = 0.

R m m k . As i r w e l l known, t h e e x a c t 4-form d(Kk A * e k o ) does n o t a1 t e r

t h e dyRamicai e q u a t i o n s b u t does change t h e d e f i n i t i o n o f eneigy ( see
e.g. ~ e f . 1 7 1 , and i t i s s t i l l an open q u e s t i o n whether t h e f u l l Lagran-
g i a n (2.15) has t o be c o n s i d e r e d (sce Appendix t3.d).

5. TOPOLOGICAL REMARK

O f course, t h e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s made i n S e c t i o n 4 depend on t h e e x i s t e n c e

o f a "Cauchy-splitting" o f space- time, ;.e., i f space- time may be ex-
pressed i n t h e form o f a t o p o l o g i c a l p r o d u c t o f a 3- hypersurface w i t h t h e
r e a l l i n e , such t h a t each member o f t h e f a m i l y o f h y p e r s u r f a c e s i s spa-
ce l i k e . T h i s i s t h e case i f we demand space- time t o be g l o b a l l y hyper-
bol i c 3.
The existente o f s u p e r p o t e n t i a l - f o r m s impl i e s t h e p o s s i b i 1i t y o f expres-
s i n g t h e t o t a l energy and momentum o f a s p a c e l i k e h y p e r s u r f a c e i n terms
o f surface integrals (Section 3). But, as a l r e a d y reharked 'by C. W.
~ i s n e r l ~c l, o s e d s u r f a c e s cannot be covered by a s i n g l e set o f singu-
l a r i t y - f r e e coordinates, so t h a t t h e t o t a l energy and momentum d e f i n i -
t i o n s i n v o l v i n g pseudotensors may become p r o b l e m a t i c . T h i s would a l s o
be t h e case i n o u r formalism, i f we were d e a l i n g o n l y w i t h holonomic (=
c o o r d i n a t e ) bases, which r e f e r t o a s u i t a b l e c o v e r i n g o f the manifold
by c h a r t s . However, o u r v a r i o u s t o t a l energy and momentum d e f i n i t i o n s
a r e more g e n e r a l l y e s t a b l ished on any s u i t a b l e form- basis and a r e t h e -
r e f o r e o n l y concerned w i t h t h e p a r a l l e l i z a b i l i t y ( o r a t l e a s t w i t h o r i -
e n t a b i li t y ) o f t h e m a n i f o l d . So f o r i n s t a n c e , t h e t o r u s SI (or the
x SI
sphere s2) i s p a r a l i e li zable ( o r i e n t a b l e , respectively) , though i t can-
n o t be covered by one n o n - s i n g u l a r c h a r t . We t h e r e f o r e conclude that
t h e s u r f a c e i n t e g r a l s l i k e (1.5) w i t h (3.18) make sense i f the surface
i s p a r a l l e l i z a b l e . P a r a l l e l i z a b i l i t y i s known t o be c l o s e l y connected
w i t h t h e Euler-Poincaré-characteristic o f t h e u n d e r l y i n g m a n i f o l d . So,
e v e r y compact o r i e n t e d m a n i f o l d o f odd dimension has vanishing Euler-
- P o i n c a r é - c h a r a c t e r i s t i c and i s t h e r e f o r e p a r a l l e l i z a b l e (and hence o r i -
entablelg) . F o r t h a t reason, we a l s o b e l i e v e t h a t t h e argument concer-
n i n g a v a n i s h i n g t o t a l energy/momentum i n a c l o s e d u n i v e r s e makes sense
i ndeed.

I n general, i n t h e compact as w e l l as i n t h e noncompact case, t h e main

q u e s t i o n we a r e l e f t w i t h i s o r i e n t a b i l i t y o f space, s i n c e e v e r y 3-ma-
n i f o l d , i f oriented, i s a l s o paral l e l i z a b l e (according t o a theorem o f
E. s t i ' e f e 1 2 j ) . Since severa1 p h y s i c a l f a c t s ( e n t r o p y theorem, expansion
o f t h e u n i v e r s e ) induce us t o b e l i e v e t h a t space- time i s t i m e - o r i e n t a -
b l e , then by t h e CPT theorem i t i s a l s o s p a c e - o r i e n t a b l e 3 . I f then, as we
assume, space- time i s g l o b a l l y hyperbol i c , i t i s i t s e l f p a r a l l e l i r a b l e 2 l
and o u r forrnalism i s g l o b a l l y d e f i n e d . Moreover, we were a l s o a l l o w e d t o
use a g l o b a l o r t h o n o r m a l b a s i s and 4 r e t h e r e f o r e immediately bound up
w i t h t h e s p i n o r s t r u c t u r e o f space-time21.
APPENDIX A

Let Mn be an n-dimensional d i f f e r e n t i a b l e m a n i f o l d and E (Mn) themodu-

- n P
l e o f e x t e r i o r d i f f e r e n t i a l p-forms over E ~ ( M ~ ) : =(M
C ;R), the s e t o f
s m o t h mappings from M~ t o the r e a l numbers R. The d i r e c t sum o f E (81,
P
p = O,/,. ..,
n i s then widen t o a (graded) algebra by the componentwise
extended e x t e K o r p r o d u c t

a
Out o f a I - b a s i s (e ) C E1, a = 0,1, ..., n-1, we c o n s t r u c t a ($1 -ba-
s i r ( B ~ ~ ~ ' - ~Ep Pby
) C

where 8 denotes tensor prbducts and square brackets a n t i symmet r i s a t i o n ,

i .e.

(L ,
the p - t h permutation group). Thus, any p-form o 6 E can be w r i t -
P P
ten as

V e r t i c a l bars demand summation over

1 <"2< ." < aP'

D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n i s represented by the e x t e n o r deinivative d: E -i Ep+l,

P
def i ned by

where we d e f i n e df t o be the o r d i n a r y d i f f e r e n t i a l o f f 6 Eo. So, when

/
a p p l i e d t o the coordinate functions x' 6 E. (LI = o,], ..., n-11, we get
a specia 1 k i nd o f basi s e' = diz', c a l l e d coordinate ( o r n a t u r a l ) basis.
I n general, t h e d e s c r i b i n g features o f d are:
A p - f o r m ~x i s czosed i f f da = O; i t i$e x a c t i f f t h e r e i s a B 8 E
P-1
such t h a t a = dB. O f course, every exact form i s closed, b u t the con- ,

n
verse i s o n l y t r u e on a starshaped r e g i o n ( o r open b a l l ) o f M (P'oinca-
'
r é s 'iemma) .
I f the m a n i f o l d admits o f a pseudo-Riemannian m e t r i c , we hay use it
-t o d e f i n e a scaZar p m d u c t i n El, <,> : El x El + E. by

As dual b a s i s icobasis) { e a > t o { e a > w i t h r e s p e c t to g ( o r <,> , respec-

t i v e l y ) , we s h a l l use

(A. 7)

Note, thar: we a r e t h e r e f o r e deal i n g w i t h dual basis-forms and n o t w i t h

dual b a s i s - v e r t o r f i e l d s (say, a in a coordinate basis).. Because f o r eve-
lJ
r y v e c t o r f i e l d 6 8 J ( M ~ ) t h e r e i s a unique a d j o i n t ( w i t h respect t o g )
I-form 5 e J*(M~) = E1 by

and i t i s t h e r e f o r e e q u i v a l e n t t o deal w i t h b a s i s and cobasis 1 -forms

o r w i t h b a s i s forms and cobasis v e c t o r f i e l d s o r w i t h b a s i s éInd coba-
s i s vectoir f i e l d s , the l a t t e r f r e q u e n t l y used w i t h i n the v i e r b e i n (or
t e t r a d ) formalism. However, making use o f forms i s u s u a l l y more prac-
t i c a l by I-eason o f the Cartan-formal ism, which we a r e now going t o sum-
marize.

There i s :i n a t u r a l extension o f iptroduced

i,> by the i n n e r p r o d u c t ( o r
c o n t r a c t i o n ) i = El x E -t E (E-1 = @ )
P P-1
so t h a t f o r i n s t a n c e

We l i s t t h e main p r o p e r t i e s o f i (a,3 6 E 1 ; h,f 6 E ~ ) :

The l a s t property a1 lows us t o d e f i n e an extended i n n e r p r o d u c t f o r

forms, i ( a ) o , a E E w E E , p' q , b u t t h i s ought t o be handled ca-
P' 4
r e f u l l y . Note t h a t p r o p e r t y 3) i s o n l y v a l i d i n t h i s f o r m a c E1. By
t h e extended i n n e r p r o d u c t we o b t a i n an extended s c a l a r p r o d u c t i n E
P'

Thus, by t h e l i n e a i - i t y o f i,
we g e t

(A. 11) i s o f t e n c a l l e d "p-th pemutation temor" and i s denoted by

where the l a s t e q u a t i o n i s e a s i l y proved by ( ~ . 1 1 ) .

E x t e r i o r de r i v a t i ve and con t r a c t i o n def i ne the Lie-derivative

whe r e

so t h a t t h e f o l l o w i n g formulas a r e v a l i d ( a e E1, w
1
f E
P
, u
2
C E~):

(A. 15)

A c o n v e n i e n t n o t a t i o n i s t h e covariant e x t e r i o r derivative D, D : E +

E
P+ 1
corresponding t o a connection V o f M
n
. So f o r i n s t a n c e , i n a c o o r -
P

d i n a t e b a s i s , D meets d b u t t h e o r d i n a r y d e r i v a t i v e I' ," exchanged

f o r the covariant d e r i v a t i v e " ; ". Thus, i n general, D equals d when
a p p l i e d t o forms. wi t h o u t f ree index, o t h e r w i s e p r o p e r t y 3) i n (A . 15)
must be r e p l a c e d by

DD( ...I
VV.. . = R" A + R')a A ( ... )Ma- ' + ... ,
(...)"' 8 E
P
, p = 0,l ,..., n-I ,
where Ra are t h e c u r v a t u r e forms o f t h e connectison V. I f D corres-
B
ponds t o t h e unique L e v i - C i v i t a - c o n n e c t i o n ( V metric- compatible and
tórsion-free), then

DgaB = O , (A. 17)

Roughly speaking, one may t h i n k o f D as t h e a n t i s y m m e t r i c p a r t ofV.No-

t e , t h a t wliereas d i s b a s i s - i n v a r i a n t , D i s n o t .

707
W i th D, the o r d i n a r y L i e - d e r i v a t i v e may be extended t o the c o v a x k m t
L l e - d e r i v a t i v e L : E1 x E -t E ~ ( a , w ) =: ~ ( a ) w ,def ined by
P P'

For instance, when appl i e d t o forms w i t h o u t f r e e index, .C(eU) i s q u i t e

the analog o f V a .
Property 2) o f (A.15) i s no longer v a l i d f o r L. We
Fi
remark t h a t L and L may be extended by use o f the extended inner pro-
duct, b u t we do n o t need them f u r t h e r and t h e r e f o r e t h e y w i l l be omit-
ted.

Let M~ be o r i e n t a b t e , i . e . there e x i s t s a continuous nowhere vanishing

E € E (Mn). Because dim En(p) = 1 f o r a1 l p 8 Mn, a connected manifold
n
i s o r i e n t a b l e i f f E,(P) has two components, each component forming an
equivalence c l a s s o f n-forrns, c a l l e d o r i e n t a t i o n . We are concerned wi t h
the c m n i c a i ! n-fom ("me t r i c v o l ume! e lemen t" o r "genera 1i zed Levi - Ci -
v i t a tensor" ) :

E := & e 0 A e],, ... * en-i ( 8 )E

, ,
(A.20)
g := Det ( g
a8
) ; (-lu := s i g n a t u r e o f g.

Inner product together w i t h E provicle a l i n e a r isornorphisrn *, * : E

P
+

E (Hodgestar- operator), d e f i n e d b y
n-p

so t h a t e-g.

a ...an = * eal ...an

1
a .. .a-.
where, by (A..21), E are the components o f E with
n
respect t o the basi s {e 1. Sometimes i t i s convenient t o denote
the m e t r i c volume element and i t s components wi t h respect t o an o r t h o -
normal b a s i s d i f f e r e n t l y , say ~ a n d E ~ ( t~ he l a t t e r a l s o d e n o t e d
i - - : an
by kl...a 3 , see Ref.1). Note that,, f o r instance,
We a l s o ' l l i s t some important features of * :

1) * o * = (-1 ( n - ~ ) ~ si d E ,
P

Star- operator and e x t e r i o r d e r i v a t i v e allow f o r the d e f i n i t i o n of the

code2*ivativeh:E +E (E :=0),
p p- 1 -1

as w e l l as the LapZace-BeZtmi o p e m t o r A : E + E
P P '

We summarize some important properties o f h and A:

I n t e g r a t i o n on an n-dimensional o r i e n t a b l e m a n i f o l d Mn i s defined v i a
pull- backs t o the model-space (e.g., i n our case). I n R ~ ,one i n t e -
grates p-forrns over p-chains o(p), the elements o f a module, which i r
freely generated by the s e t o f p-cubes o r p-simplexes. ln order to
t r a n s f e r these s t r u c t u r e i n t o the m a n i f o l d M ~ ,one defines s i n g u l a r p-
-cubes o r p- simplexes, t h a t i s , p-cubes o r p-simp'lexes i n R~ together
w i t h d i f f e r e n t i a b l e and o r i e n t a t i o n preserving mappings 4 o f into
Mn.

Let / : = $(o(p)) C tIn denote the support o f o(p), and c a r r (a) the
c a r r i e r ( o r a l s o support) o f a 6 E ( M ~ ) i, .e.
the c l o s u r e o f the s e t
P
o f p o i n t s € M~ o u t s i d e o f which a i s equal t o zero. Then, since ( i s
continuous, 10") l"carr(a) i s compact ( t h e r e e x i s t s a f i n i t e "volume")
and we d e f i n e the i n t e g r a l o f a over o(') by

(A. 30)

wheie (* i r the usual pull- back o f forms (4' : P(M") + Ep ($1).

n
A f t e r s u i t a b l e c u b u l a t i n g o r t r i a n g u l a t i n g the rnanifold M , one defi-
nes the i n t e g r a l over s i n g u l a r p-chaiins by 1 i n e a r extension of (~.30).
Conversely, g i v e n an i n t e g r a l I A a , ,4 Mn , one t r i a n g u l a t e s o r cu-
b u l a t e s A before c a l c u l a t i n g an i n t e g r a l l i k e ( ~ . 3 0 ) . We recall - the
most important theorem i n i n t e g r a t i o n theory, namely the theorem of
Stokes ( A = compact submanifold o f s u i t a b l e dimension):

I n general, i n t e g r a l s o f forms w i t h noncompact c a r r i e r s w i t h i n the sup-

p o r t o f a s i n g u l a r chain are t o be understood as improper integrals
( w i t h s u f f i c i e n t l y r a p i d l y vanishing components o u t s i d e a s u i t a b l e re-
gion), which lead d i r e c t l y t o the n o t i o n o f de Rhm-currents. (distri-
bution- type forms) .
I n the siinplest case, they are defined as 1 i n e a r f u n c t i o n a l s on E For
P'
instance, a l i n e a r mapping E (Mn)
P
+ E (at
P
z € Mn) may be def ined by

where 6X E E p l z 8 En-p , the ( D i rac) 6-d-istribution p-fom, rep roduces

the value o f a p-form w a t € Mn. I t can be w r i t t e n i " a coordinate
bas i s := at. 5 (see Ref. 8) as

For f u r t h e r references on d i f f e r e n t i a l geometry and i n t e g r a t i o n theory

see Ref.23.

APPENDIX B .

a) To o b t a i n the f i e l d equations, suppose f o r a mment t h a t L depends

a l s o on tlie m e t r i c c o e f f i c. i e n t s :

L=L(g e
a6' v

Varying a l l arguments o f L independently, one r e a d i l y c a l c u l a t e s

a a
6~~~ = d6w
6
+ 6(w
ti
n uU6) ,

wherefore we o b t a i n
whe re

But frm (0.4) and (8.5) one has

t h a t i s , the cmponents o f (8.4) and (8.5) a r e equal ( t h e E i n s t e i n ten-

sor dCX) and, therefore, v a r i a t i o n o f e
and g leads t o the same f i e l d
~i a6
equations. Thus, one could a l s o vary the b a s i s w i t h constant s c a l a r pro-
duct g = <e,, e B > (e.g., an orthonormal b a s i s , see Ref .8).
aB

I n c i d e n t l y , equating (6.3) t o zero, the P a l a t i n i p r i n c i p l e leads t o D*e ' =

a
= 0, and t h e r e f o r e t o the usual c o r r e l a t i o n o f b a s i s and connection forms
(see (2.12)). I f the v a r i a t i o n i n .(8.3) is i, then (8.31, together with
(B.6), gives (2.17).

b) F r o m ( 2 . 1 6 ) and ( 2 . 1 4 1 , one imnediately o b t a i n s

Further, we c a l c u l a t e
The l a s t s e t of equations i s accompanied by t h e f o l l o w i n g s t e p s : (1) in-
s e r t (3.1); (2) equate t h e f i r s t term t o z e r o and surn t h e l a s t two be-
cause o f t h e symmetry/antisymmetry c o n t r a c t i o n ; (3) i n s e r t (3.1); (4) i n -
sert f -
a;W p a w a n d e y n * e T O = g y B * e T - g y T r e B ; (5)
compare t h e l a s t terrn t o (3.6).

The sum o f (6.8) and (6.9) g i v e s then (3.2).

c) I n o r d e r t o analyze t h e e x p r e s s i o n (3.181, we compute

so t h a t

I n a c o o r d i n a t e s b a s i s eu = &ca, t h i s reduces t o
 1
s
Fi
= - i ( e a ) (dea A eu).

I f we employ

( i n a coordinate b a s i s , (8.13) = O) i n (8.121, we o b t a i n

(note, t h a t dg = 2g uaa). With

Because o f S = (1/2) syVPevp, t h i s gives equation (3.20) f o r S vP. TO

Fi Fi
construct the Mdller-form Vu, we only r e w r i t e ( 8 . 1 2 ) :
d) Consider t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c P o n t r j a g i n - and E u l e r - f o r m s , respectively
( a p a r t f r o m a c o n s t a n t , see Ref.22) '

where (B.19) i s t h e c o e f f i c i e n t o f a i n (2.15). We r e w r i t e (8.20) by

u s i n g (A.22) and RaBuv = RFiVaB:

Using ( ~ . 2 6 ) , we compute ( n o t e t h a t RY := i(ea)RaB corresponds to the

R i s c i - t e n s o r by RY = RaB eB; " ~ i c c i - f o r m " ) t h e f o l l o w i n g :

so t h a t (B.20) i s e x a c t l y t h e c o e f f i c i e n t o f B i n (2.15). But (B. 19) and

(8.20) a r e e x a c t ( o r " e s s e n t i a l l y exact" i n t h e l a t t e r case, see below)
i n t e n s o f t h e c o n n e c t i o n 1-forms wa and t h e b a s i s eu: insert (2.14)
B
i n t o (B.19) t o g e t (use (2.20))
 Ra, A RBa = d(waB A R';) - wa B A wB
Y
A RYa , (B.23)

and with the help of

immediately obtain

RaB A = dpWaBwBa + 23 wa8

A A wB A wy ]. (B. 26)
Y a

Likewise, insert (2.14) into (8.20) to get (use A * e

ya
Bb] = 0)

This can also be rewritten with the help of

wa
o
A w"
B
A A * e
Ya
86

=
1 d(w
a
B
A wYT A
'I
A * e
Ya
- 31 A(W) ,
 ( t h e l a s t e q u a t i o n may be o b t a i n e d by D * e Y a" = O ) . Note, that ~(w)
vanishes i n a b a s i s o f c o n s t a n t <ea,zB > = ga B, because d * eaBy6 =
ÚE"By6 = O (see ( ~ . 2 2 ) and (A.23)).

E q u a t i o n (8.27) now reads

As mentioned above ( S e c t i o n 5, see a l s o Ref. 8), t o obtain the f i e l d

e q u a t i o n s we a r e a l l o w e d t o use an orthonormal b a s i s t h r o u g h o u t , s o t h a t
t h e l a s t term i n (8.29) does n o t c o n t r i b u t e .

The c o e f f i c i e n t s o f a and B i n (2.15) a r e now show t o be e x a c t ( t h e l a t -

t e r a t l e a s t i n a c o n s t a n t , e.g. o r t h o n o r m a l , b a s i s ) and t h e r e f o r e d o n o t
a l t e r t h e f i e l d e q u a t i o n s (as may be seen frm

which f o l l o w f r o m t h e f a c t t h a t t h e v a r i a t i o n o f t h e v a r i a b l e s v a n i s h e s a t
aA; see a l s o Ref, 24 f o r a c l a s s i c a l t r e a t m e n t o f t h i s t o p i c ) .

Rmark. A1 though i n any n o n s p e c i a l i z e d b a s i s t h e E u l e r - f o r m (8.20) f a i 1s

t o be e x a c t by 1/3 ~ ( w ) , even t h e n i t can be shown t h a t i t does n o t con-
t r i b u t e t o t h e f i e l d e q u a t i o n s . To t h i s end, l e t us. a b b r e v i a t e (8.29) by

Since (8.32) i s i n v a r i a n t under (2.31, we g e t

 -a
where w corresponds t o t h e b a s i s i;').E x p l i c i t l y , t h i s can be proven
B
by use o f (2.13) and

where

Now t a k e t h e b a s i s {;li) as c o n s t a n t i n t h e above rnanner; then A ( ; ) i n (B.

33) vanishes and we a r e l é f t w i t h

or explicitly

But from (8.34) one has 6 1 ~ ( w )= 0, s i n c e 6e" as w e l l as 6waB trans-

f o m hornogeneously (as t e n s o r i a l q u a n t i t i e s ) . For t h e l a t t e r , t h i s can be
seen i m n e d i a t e l y i f one r e w r i t e s (2.13) as f o l l o w s :

APPENDIX C

I n o r d e r t o p r o v e t h e e q u i v a l e n c e o f t h e Landau-Li f s c h i t z 3- form t o
t h e L a n d a u - L i f s c h i t z pseudo-energy t e n s o r g i v e n i n ~ e f . 1 4 , we rewrite
(3.24) 1i ke t h i s ( t h e c o n s t a n t 8 s k r e i n t r o d u c e d ) :

71;
 (c. i)
With the h e l p o f

(C.1) immediately reduces t o (see ~ e f . 8 )

* --
tLL - EnBy6(Wer.A w V
A ev - w
uB
PY A e6) (C.3)
16~k

or, i n a more compact n o t a t i o n ,

We express (C.4) i n a coordinate basis (eu = &'I and o b t a i n for the

ornponents (*tFL = t;: * e),

using the Christoffel-syrnbols r := <w e > (equation (~.25) a n d t h e

'VP ,va P
i d e n t i t y eriU6 E~~~~ * e' wi I 1 be h e l p f u l t o g e t (c.5)).

Using the i-elations

we compute

w i t h the help of

we o b t a i n a t last
 KX
The l a s t e q u a t i o n and t h e r e f o r e t h e symmetry o f t i n the coordinate
LL
b a s i s seems t o be obvious. We f i n a l l y a r r i v e d a t t h e L a n d a u - L i f s c h i t z
e x p r e s s i o n g i v e n i n ( ~ e f . l 4 ) , which can be r e a d i l y v e r i f i e d , setting
X + i , K + % , y + k , v+m, v-tnandírjp.

Remark. O f course, i t would have been much e a s i e r t o w r i t e out (C.5)

e x p l i c i t l y as i t stands, b u t some o f t h e above m a n i p u l a t i o n s ( l i k e i n -
dex- rearrangings f r e q u e n t l y i n v o l v e d ) a r e made t o f a c i 1i t a t e t h e com-
p a r i s o n w i t h t h e o r i g i n a l L a n d a u - L i f s c h i t z e x p r e s s i o n . Nevertheless, i t
shows once more two a t t r i b u t e s o f t h e Cartan- formalism employed i n (3.
24) - i t s expediency and beauty.

Acknowledgement. The a u t h o r s would l i k e t o thank b z . H.K.Urbantke for

s t i m u l a t i n g d i s c u s s i o n s and v a l u a b l e h i n t s .
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