In this letter, we investigate the basic property of the Hilbert-Einstein action principle and its infinitesimal variation under suitable transformation of the metric tensor. We find that for the variation in action to be invariant, it must be a scalar so as to obey the principle of general covariance. From this invariant action principle, we eventually derive the Bianchi identity (where, both the 1st and 2nd forms are been dissolved) by using the Lie derivative and Palatini identity. Finally, from our derived Bianchi identity, splitting it into its components and performing cyclic summation over all the indices, we eventually can derive the covariant derivative of the Riemann curvature tensor.
This very formulation was first introduced by S Weinberg in case of a collision less plasma and gravitating system. We derive the Bianchi identity from the action principle via this approach; and hence the name ‘Weinberg formulation of Bianchi identity’.