On Hilbert's world-function

The well-known theorem that the motion of any conservative dynamical system can be determined from the “Principle of Least Action” or “Hamilton’s Principle” was carried over into General Relativity-Theory in 1915 by Hilbert, who showed that the field-equations of gravitation can be deduced very simply from a minimum-principle. Hilbert generalised his ideas into the assertion that all physical happenings (gravitational electrical, etc.) in the universe are determined by a scalar “world-function” H, being, in fact, such as to annul the variation of the integral ∫∫∫∫H√(−g)dx 0 dx 1 dx 2 dx 3 where ( x 0 , x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ) are the generalised co-ordinates which specify place and time, and g is (in the usual notation of the relativity-theory) the determinant of the gravitational potentials g v q , which specify the metric by means of the equation dx 2 = ∑ p, q g vq dx v dx q . In Hilbert’s work, the variation of the above integral was supposed to be due to small changes in the g vq 's and in the electromagnetic potentials, regarded as functions of x 0 , x 1 , x 2 , x 3 .