A new formula for conserved charges of Lovelock gravity in AdS spacetimes and its generalization

Abstract

Within the framework of the Lovelock gravity theory, we propose a new rank-four divergenceless tensor consisting of the Riemann curvature tensor and inheriting its algebraic symmetry characters. Such a tensor can be adopted to define conserved charges of the Lovelock gravity theory in asymptotically anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetimes. Besides, inspired with the case of the Lovelock gravity, we put forward another general fourth-rank tensor in the context of an arbitrary diffeomorphism invariant theory of gravity described by the Lagrangian constructed out of the curvature tensor. On basis of the newly-constructed tensor, we further suggest a Komar-like formula for the conserved charges of this generic gravity theory.