Talk abstract details

Bel and Bel-Robinson tensors were introduced nearly fifty years ago in an attempt to generalize to gravitation the energy-momentum tensor of electromagnetism. This generalization was successful from the mathematical point of view but the physical role of these tensors in General Relativity has remained obscure and no interpretation has achieved wide acceptance. The name "superenergy" has been suggested for the hypothetical physical magnitude lying behind these tensors. In this work we try to shed light on the true physical meaning of superenergy by performing the full orthogonal splitting of Bel and Bel-Robinson tensors. Also we find the orthogonal splitting of the well-known covariant divergence of Bel tensor. We explore some consequences of the ensuing "dynamical laws of superenergy", among them the definition of superenergy radiative states in any spacetime.