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The title, abstract, and intro read: A New Proof of the Positive Energy Theorem* Edward Witten Joseph Henry Laboratories, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA Abstract. A new proof is given of the positive energy theorem of classical general relativity. Also, a new proof is given that there are no asymptotically Euclidean gravitational instantons. (These theorems have been proved pre-viously, by a different method, by Schoen and Yau.) The relevance of these results to the stability of Minkowski space is discussed. I. Introduction In most classical field theories that play a role in physics, the total energy is the integral of a positive definite energy density Too. This positivity of the energy is usually responsible for ensuring the stability of the ground state.