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The Equivalence principle allows Riemann normal coordinates in which the first derivatives of the metric tensor vanish at a chosen point. A purported local gravitational stress-energy tensor built from those first derivatives would vanish there in that chart and therefore, if tensorial, in all charts. Such an expression cannot encode the gravitational energy assigned by a coordinate-dependent field description. This rules out an ordinary universal local covariant gravitational energy density, not the construction of local curvature tensors or boundary and averaged notions of gravitational energy. The Riemann curvature tensor still describes invariant tidal gravity.

In a local orthonormal tetrad, anisotropic stress is the trace-free spatial part of the stress-energy tensor, conventionally denoted ${\pi }^{ij}$. Some linear cosmological perturbation theory conventions instead use ${\Pi }^{ij}=-{\pi }^{ij}$ and write $T^{ij}=P{\delta }^{ij}-{\Pi }^{ij}$. The sign must be specified before using a photon Euler equation. The photon quadrupole determines the linear photon anisotropic stress.

If $B^{\rho \mu \nu }=-B^{\mu \rho \nu }$, commuting partial derivatives gives ${\partial }_{\mu }{\partial }_{\rho }{B}^{\rho \mu \nu }=0$. Such an improvement preserves conservation of a stress-energy tensor and changes integrated charges only by a spatial boundary term. The Belinfante-Rosenfeld stress-energy tensor is obtained through this type of improvement.

For a scalar field with $X=-q^2/2$, Lagrangian $F(X)$ and stress-energy tensor $T_{ab}=F\prime q_a{q}_b+F{g}_{ab}$, the inequalities $A=F\prime \ge 0$ and $Y=XF\prime -F\ge 0$ imply the dominant energy condition for any gradient type. In a local Lorentz frame, $\rho =A(q_0^2+{\sum }_i{q}_i^2)/2+Y\ge 0$ and ${\rho }^2-{\sum }_i{T}_{0i}^2=A^2{X}^2+A(q_0^2+{\sum }_i{q}_i^2)Y+Y^2\ge 0$.

The Hadamard condition requires the two-point function of a physical free-field state to have the universal local short-distance singularity prescribed by the spacetime geometry and field equation. It permits state-dependent smooth contributions and enables local renormalization of the stress-energy tensor. It does not select a unique Fock vacuum.

For a nondegenerate metric tensor, differentiating $g_{ac}{g}^{cb}={\delta }_a{}^b$ gives $\delta g_{ab}=-g_{ac}{g}_{bd}\delta g^{cd}$. Combining this with the Jacobi determinant derivative formula proves the displayed volume-density variation. It is the determinant contribution when defining a stress-energy tensor by varying the inverse metric tensor.

The invariant future mass-shell measure is $d^{3}p/E$, up to fixed normalization factors absorbed in $f$. Its relation to the Lorentz-invariant phase-space measure follows by integrating $2\theta (p^0)\delta (p_{\mu }{p}^{\mu }+m^2)d^{4}p$ over $p^0$ in a local orthonormal tetrad. A particle carries four-momentum $p^{\mu }$ and crosses a local spatial surface with velocity $p^i/p^0$. Integrating the associated momentum flux gives the displayed stress-energy tensor. For photons, $p^{\hat{a}}=E(1,\mathbf{e})$ and $|\mathbf{e}|=1$.

For $V(\varphi )=\lambda (m^2-{\varphi }^2{)}^2$ with $\lambda ,m>0$, set $\kappa =\sqrt{2\lambda }m$. A well-separated kink–antikink pair at $-d/2,d/2$ is approximated by $\varphi =m\tanh \kappa (x+d/2)-m\tanh \kappa (x-d/2)-m$. At its midpoint, ${\varphi }_x=0$ and $\varphi =m-4m{e}^{-\kappa d}+O(e^{-2\kappa d})$. The static stress-energy tensor component $T^{11}={\varphi }_x^2/2-V$ is therefore negative there. Momentum conservation gives the force on the left half-line as $T^{11}(-\infty )-T^{11}(0)$, which is positive. Its leading magnitude is $F\sim 32m^2{\kappa }^2{e}^{-2\kappa d}$. Thus the pair attracts. This is a controlled leading-tail estimate at large separation, not an exact superposed solution or a theorem about all subsequent collision outcomes.

With zero cosmological constant and the component Hodge star operator convention $(\star j{)}_{abc}={ϵ}_{abcd}{j}^d$, the Einstein field equations and Killing equation give $d\star dm=-16\pi \star (T_{ab}{m}^b-\frac{1}{2}T{m}_a)$. If $m$ is tangent to a spacelike hypersurface, the trace term pulls back to zero. For $\partial \Sigma =S_{\infty }-{\bigcup }_i{S}_i$, Stokes theorem yieldsThe inner Komar charges cannot be dropped for a vacuum Kerr black hole, whose angular momentum is nonzero although its stress-energy tensor vanishes. A matter-only volume formula requires a regular filling with no inner boundaries.

A real scalar field is minimally coupled to a metric tensor when its kinetic term uses the metric contraction of first derivatives and its scalar potential depends only on the field, without an explicit scalar curvature coupling. For metric signature $(-,+,+,+)$ the displayed Lagrangian and volume density $\sqrt{-g}$ give $\square \varphi -V^{\prime }(\varphi )=0$. Its stress-energy tensor is $T_{ab}={\nabla }_a\varphi {\nabla }_b\varphi -g_{ab}[\frac{1}{2}(\nabla \varphi {)}^2+V]$. The scalar stress-energy divergence identity explains its conservation on the field equation.

For massless neutrinos with a temperature perturbation $\Theta$ and background energy density ${\bar{\rho }}_{\nu }$, the physical trace-free spatial stress-energy tensor isSome conventions define ${\Pi }^{ij}=-{\pi }_{\nu }^{ij}$ and correspondingly reverse the sign of the stress source in the gravitational-wave equation.

For a metric action $S_g=A\int \sqrt{-g}f(R)d^{4}x$ and the usual stress-energy tensor convention, covariant metric variation gives $A{E}_{ab}=T_{ab}/2$, where $E_{ab}=f^{\prime }{R}_{ab}-f{g}_{ab}/2+(g_{ab}\square -{\nabla }_a{\nabla }_b)f^{\prime }$. With $A=1/(16\pi G)$ this becomes $E_{ab}=8\pi G{T}_{ab}$; with $A=1$ it becomes $E_{ab}=T_{ab}/2$. The chosen normalization does not alter the vacuum equation.

A scalar function on the future mass shell describing the expected particle count in a phase-space distribution cell. In a local orthonormal tetrad, the number crossing a spacelike surface element is $f{p}^{\mu }d{\Sigma }_{\mu }{d}^{3}p/E$. On a constant-time slice it becomes $f{d}^{3}x{d}^{3}p$. Including degeneracy and phase-space normalization in $f$ gives the stress-energy tensor $T^{\mu \nu }=\int (d^{3}p/E)f{p}^{\mu }{p}^{\nu }$. Other conventions may put the degeneracy or $(2\pi {)}^{-3}$ explicitly in the measure.