Gravitational Energy

Observers at rest in a stationary spacetime flat at infinity can measure small amounts of rest-mass+internal energies+kinetic energies+pressure energy in a small volume of fluid attached to a local inertial frame. The sum of these small amounts is the total “matter energy” EM for those observers. If Mc 2 is the total mass-energy, the difference Mc − EM is the binding gravitational energy. Misner, Thorne and Wheeler evaluated the gravitational energy of a spherically symmetric static spacetime. Here we show how to calculate gravitational energy in any static and stationary spacetime with isolated sources with a set of observers at rest. The result of MTW is recovered and we find that electromagnetic and gravitational 3-covariant energy densities in conformastatic spacetimes are of opposite signs. Various examples suggest that gravitational energy is negative in spacetimes with special symmetries or when the energy-momentum tensor satisfies usual energy conditions. PACS numbers 04.20. -q, 04.20.Cv