Gravitational mass anomaly

Abstract

The mass of gravitational sources differs by a factor of 2 when computed by the Komar superpotential and when computed in the gravitational weak field limit. The difference has been recognized for some time since both the linearized theory and the Einstein pseudotensor yield the same value, different by a factor of 2 from the Komar mass. The great advantage of the Komar superpotential over other methods is its tensorial formulation, however it fails to produce a Noether quantity. A different tensorial method is suggested that is free of the mass anomaly, namely, the zero and first Taub numbers [Phys. Rev. D 47, 474 (1993)] which are indeed Noether quantities. The zeroth Taub number is obtained from the Penrose–Goldberg superpotential [Phys. Rev. D 41, 410 (1990)].