Stress-energy tensor
The stress-energy tensor is a tensor quantity in relativity. It describes the flow of energy and momentum. It satisfies the continuity equation
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The quantity
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over a spacelike slice gives the energy-momentum
vector. This tensor is the
Noether current associated with
spacetime translations. In
general relativity, this quantity acts as the source of spacetime
curvature. One thing to note is that in curved spacetime, the spacelike
integral now depends on the spacelike slice in general. This is simply the statement that there's no way to define a global energy-momentum vector in a general curved spacetime.
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