Generalized field theoretical approach to general relativity and conservedquantities in anti-de Sitter spacetimes - art. no. 104002

A new prescription to calculate the total energies and angular momenta of a symptotically (d + 1)-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetimes is proposed. Th e method is based on an extension of the field theoretical approach to gene ral relativity to the case where there is an effective cosmological constan t. A (d - 1) form Omega is exhibited which, when integrated on asymptotic ( d - 1)-dimensional boundary surfaces, yields the values of those conserved quantities. The calculations are gauge independent once asymptotic conditio ns are not violated. Total energies and angular momenta of some known solut ions in four and five dimensions are calculated agreeing with standard resu lts.