Slice Energy and Conformal Frames in Theories of Gravitation
arXiv:gr-qc/0412112
Abstract
We examine and compare the behaviour of the scalar field slice energy in different classes of theories of gravity, in particular higher-order and scalar-tensor theories. We find a universal formula for the energy and compare the resulting conservation laws with those known in general relativity. This leads to a comparison between the inflaton, the dilaton and other forms of scalar fields present in these generalized theories. It also shows that all such conformally-related, generalized theories of gravitation allow for the energy on a slice to be invariably defined and its fundamental properties be insensitive to conformal transformations.
12 pages, latex