The quasilocal energy of gravitational and matter fields in a spatially bounded region is obtained by employing a Hamilton-Jacobi analysis of the action functional. First, a surface stress-energy-momentum tensor is defined by the functional derivative of the action with respect to the three-metric on 3 B, the history of the system's boundary. Energy density, momentum density, and spatial stress are defined by projecting the surface stress tensor normally and tangentially to a family of spacelike two-surfaces that foliate 3 B. The integral of the energy density over such a two-surface B is the quasilocal energy associated with a spacelike threesurface Σ whose intersection with 3 B is the boundary B. The resulting expression for quasilocal energy is given in terms of the total mean curvature of the spatial boundary B as a surface embedded in Σ. The quasilocal energy is also the value of the Hamiltonian that generates unit magnitude proper time translations on 3 B in the direction orthogonal to B. Conserved charges such as angular momentum are defined using the surface stress tensor and Killing vector fields on 3 B. For spacetimes that are asymptotically flat in spacelike directions, the quasilocal energy and angular momentum defined here agree with the results of Arnowitt-Deser-Misner in the limit that the boundary tends to spatial infinity. For spherically symmetric spacetimes, it is shown that the quasilocal energy has the correct Newtonian limit, and includes a negative contribution due to gravitational binding.

As a first step in constructing initial data for dynamic black holes and general black-hole collisions, we study nonsingular vacuum Cauchy hypersurfaces with two isometric asymptotically flat ends connected by an Einstein-Rosen-type bridge. These hypersurfaces are assumed to be conformally flat and maximally embedded in spacetime but are neither spherically symmetric nor time symmetric. Three of the four constraints are solved explicitly for suitable extrinsic curvature tensors that possess linear momentum and/or intrinsic angular momentum. The complete initial data are shown to transform invariantly, modulo the sign of the extrinsic curvature tensor, under inversion through a minimal two-surface that represents the "throat" of the geometry. These and other properties show that the data represent a particular epoch in the history of a dynamic black hole. We describe the relation of our data to that of the Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes. Finally, we discuss the generalization to encounters of two or more black holes.

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The gravitational field in a spatially finite region is described as a microcanonical system. The density of states ν is expressed formally as a functional integral over Lorentzian metrics and is a functional of the geometrical boundary data that are fixed in the corresponding action. These boundary data are the thermodynamical extensive variables, including the energy and angular momentum of the system. When the boundary data are chosen such that the system is described semiclassically by any real stationary axisymmetric black hole, then in this same approximation ln ν is shown to equal 1/4 the area of the black hole event horizon. The canonical and grand canonical partition functions are obtained by integral transforms of ν that lead to "imaginary time" functional integrals. A general form of the first law of thermodynamics for stationary black holes is derived. For the simpler case of nonrelativistic mechanics, the density of states is expressed as a real-time functional integral and then used to deduce Feynman's imaginary-time functional integral for the canonical partition function.

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