A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON GRAVITY AND DYNAMICS OF SPACE–TIME

Abstract

The Einstein–Hilbert action has a bulk term and a surface term (which arises from integrating a four divergence). I show that one can obtain Einstein's equations from the surface term alone. This leads to: (i) a novel, completely self-contained, perspective on gravity and (ii) a concrete mathematical framework in which the description of space–time dynamics by Einstein's equations is similar to the description of a continuum solid in the thermodynamic limit.