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A Hamiltonian Approach to the Mass of Isolated Black Holes

Christopher Beetle·Stephen Fairhurst
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Abstract

Boundary conditions defining a non-rotating isolated horizon are given in Einstein-Maxwell theory. A spacetime representing a black hole which itself is in equilibrium but whose exterior contains radiation admits such a horizon. Inspired by Hamiltonian mechanics, a (quasi-)local definition of isolated horizon mass is formulated. Although its definition does not refer to infinity, this mass takes the standard value in a Reissner-Nordstrom solution. Furthermore, under certain technical assumptions, the mass of an isolated horizon is shown to equal the future limit of the Bondi energy.

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Christopher Beetle, Stephen Fairhurst. 1999-08-01. A Hamiltonian Approach to the Mass of Isolated Black Holes. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1301582

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