On Synge's covariant conservation laws for general relativity

Following Synge, the covariant formulas for the total four-momentum and angular momentum of an isolated physical system in general relativity are derived. These formulas are first obtained in the weak-field approximation, for which they are shown to be expressible in surface integral form, to be unique, and to represent covariantly conserved quantities. The covariant expressions for the general case are then shown to be identical to those for the weak-field case. The uniquely determined and covariantly conserved quantities so obtained are found to agree with the corresponding canonical, noncovariant surface integral expressions.