Estimating total momentum at finite distances

EMANUEL GALLO; LUIS LEHNER; OSVALDO M. MORESCHI

PHYSICAL REVIEW D - PARTICLE AND FILDS

APS

Año: 2008 vol. 78 p. 84027 - 84027

0556-2821

We study the difficulties associated with the evaluation of the total Bondi momentum at finite distancesaround the central source of a general (asymptotically flat) spacetime. Since the total momentum is onlyrigorously defined at future null infinity, both finite distance and gauge effects must be taken into accountfor a correct computation of this quantity. Our discussion is applicable in general contexts but is particularlyrelevant in numerically constructed spacetimes for both extracting important physical informationand assessing the accuracy of additional quantities.