Seminarium Teorii Względności i Grawitacji

The widely accepted ADM expression for the energy of an asymptotically flat spacetime satisfies a "natural" consistency test - its second variation is equal to the canonical hamiltonian functional for linearized gravity on a Minkowski background. A viable quasi-local mass candidate should possess a similar property, namely - its second-order approximation should equal the hamiltonian of the well-understood linearized theory.We show that the Hawking quasi-local mass passes this test, provided that certain gauge conditions are fulfilled. These conditions seem to correspond to the shape of the boundary of the examined region and provide a suggestion about the way the problem of quasi-local energy should be posed. Zoom meeting ID: 814 7211 6408Passcode: 795365