{"id":"52f58cdf-b2db-4184-a9c7-16417ee32a1d","arxiv_id":"2504.11956","paper_version":1,"verdict":"CONDITIONAL","confidence":"MODERATE","novelty_score":7.0,"correctness_risk":"medium","formal_verification":"none","parameter_count":0,"one_line_summary":"The gravitational wave effective stress tensor derived from the GW action is the only one that is conserved with positive energy density, and the other candidates reduce to it after removing nonconserved parts.","lead":"This paper compares three proposed stress tensors for gravitational wave back-reaction and argues that only the one derived from the gravitational wave action is conserved and has positive energy. It derives that tensor for general curved spacetimes and demonstrates its consequences in a flat expanding universe.","discovery_kind":"extension","skeptic_critique":null,"referee_report":null,"author_rebuttal":null,"desk_editor":null,"rs_alignment":null,"lean_confirmation":null,"pith_extraction":null,"created_at":"2026-08-16T12:41:46.298137+00:00","model_set":{"reader":"deepseek-v4-flash"},"falsifier":null,"supporting_citations":[],"review_version":1}