Let and . Vary independently, taking compactly supported variations. The multiplier variation is . With , it gives the unit four-velocity condition . The enthalpy variation is
Using yields . Finally,
The integration by parts boundary term vanishes. Thus the three matter equations are
The last is particle number conservation in a relativistic fluid. Off shell are independent variational fields; on shell the thermodynamic relation ties them to the specified function .
For the Hilbert stress-energy tensor, keep these matter fields fixed while varying the inverse metric. The volume variation is , and . Therefore
On shell, and . With signature ,
For variation of the covariant metric the same definition reads . In a local rest frame the tensor has entries , which checks both the energy density and pressure sign.
Define a derivative along the flow by , and set , . The number equation immediately gives . The specific enthalpy per particle relation and give
Consequently the energy equation follows from the number equation: .
The velocity equation follows directly from the potential, rather than requiring an independent assumption about the fluid force. Since and the connection has zero torsion, the canonical vorticity of a relativistic fluid vanishes:
Contract with and use and . This gives . Multiplication by and use of produces the relativistic Euler equation. The evolution system is therefore
It is equivalent to stress-energy conservation together with number conservation, subject to the potential-flow restriction. The action describes an isentropic barotropic sector of a perfect fluid in general relativity; it does not provide general vortical or entropy-carrying fluid motions. The constraint on canonical vorticity is stronger than the Euler equation alone.
For the weak static metric, use . To the retained order, , and . The correction to is required by normalization, even though its zeroth-order value is one. The relevant Christoffel symbols are
with no spatial connection at this order. The cancellation makes the leading number equation particularly simple:
The corresponding leading energy transport equation is . The spatial Euler equation contains the gravitational acceleration and pressure force . In a strict first-order expansion, convective velocity acceleration and products of the small quantities are discarded.
To exhibit a fully linear system, perturb a homogeneous rest state: , , , and , with the perturbations, and all first order. Let . The weak-field slow-motion equations for a relativistic fluid are
The equation of state gives and . Where , it also gives the barotropic relativistic sound speed
Without this invertibility, the primitive conservation equations remain valid and this sound-speed parametrization must not be used.
The potential furnishes a further check on the pressure and gravity signs. Write . Its time and spatial components imply
Their compatibility reproduces the linear Euler equation. Pressure gradients oppose gravitational acceleration, and hydrostatic balance is . Combining the energy and Euler equations gives the forced acoustic equation
For positive , disturbances propagate as sound waves; the prescribed potential supplies a static forcing. A nonrelativistic equation of state gives , , and reduces the inertia to mass density, recovering the ordinary linearized continuity and Euler equations. Slow velocity alone does not justify dropping from the inertia of a relativistically hot fluid. The given metric supplies an external gravitational potential; the matter action by itself supplies no Poisson equation for it.
Use the metric Levi-Civita connection and hold the covariant potential fixed when varying the metric. Symmetry of the connection cancels its terms in the electromagnetic field tensor:
The Electromagnetic Bianchi identity follows from commuting partial derivatives, or and . Written covariantly it is , since total antisymmetrization also cancels the symmetric connection terms. Hence without using any field equation.
For the potential variation, . Antisymmetry in the Maxwell action gives
where the second equality is integration by parts followed by relabeling; compactly supported variations, or vanishing boundary variations, remove the surface term. Arbitrary therefore give the source-free Maxwell equations
No gauge fixing of is needed for this variational calculation.
In signature define the Hilbert stress-energy tensor by . Since the independent covariant potential makes metric independent,
Combining these two terms yields the electromagnetic stress-energy tensor
Equivalently . The overall stress-variation sign has been matched to the signature and action. As a check, in an orthonormal frame and for a nonzero field; copying a mostly-plus formula without changing conventions would fail this check.
Let . Contract the Bianchi identity with to obtain , hence . Differentiating the stress tensor cancels these derivative terms and gives the electromagnetic stress-energy divergence identity
Thus Maxwell's equation implies stress conservation for any field. Conversely, where the matrix is nonsingular, conservation implies by matrix inversion. When it is singular, conservation only says that lies in its kernel, so the converse cannot be inferred without the printed nonsingularity assumption.
For the first-order formulation, temporarily call the independently constructed potential curvature . In the first-order Maxwell action, vary the independent antisymmetric , with . Its variation is
so . Varying independently gives exactly , by the same integration-by-parts calculation as before. Eliminating the auxiliary field algebraically makes the integrand , recovering the original Maxwell action. The Bianchi identity then follows from . Metric variation also agrees after elimination: the chain-rule term from the eliminated field multiplies its already vanishing field equation. Thus the two actions give the same source-free electromagnetic dynamics and stress tensor. The Palatini procedure here means independent first-order field variables, not an additional variation of the spacetime connection.
In signature , the matter action uses independent . Variations of give , , and particle number conservation in a relativistic fluid for . Its Hilbert stress-energy tensor is . The action describes isentropic potential flow, with vanishing canonical vorticity of a relativistic fluid, rather than every vortical perfect-fluid solution.