[en] No! We show that the field equations of Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet theory defined in generic D>4 dimensions split into two parts one of which always remains higher dimensional, and hence the theory does not have a non-trivial limit to D=4. Therefore, the recently introduced four-dimensional, novel, Einstein–Gauss–Bonnet theory does not admit an intrinsically four-dimensional definition, in terms of metric only, as such it does not exist in four dimensions. The solutions (the spacetime, the metric) always remain D>4 dimensional. As there is no canonical choice of 4 spacetime dimensions out of D dimensions for generic metrics, the theory is not well defined in four dimensions.

[en] We give a detailed review of construction of conserved quantities in extended theories of gravity for asymptotically maximally symmetric spacetimes and carry out explicit computations for various solutions. Our construction is based on the Killing charge method, and a proper discussion of the conserved charges of extended gravity theories with this method requires studying the corresponding charges in Einstein’s theory with or without a cosmological constant. Hence we study the ADM charges (in the asymptotically flat case but in generic viable coordinates), the AD charges (in generic Einstein spaces, including the anti-de Sitter spacetimes) and the ADT charges in anti-de Sitter spacetimes. We also discuss the conformal properties and the behavior of these charges under large gauge transformations as well as the linearization instability issue which explains the vanishing charge problem for some particular extended theories. We devote a long discussion to the quasi-local and off-shell generalization of conserved charges in the 2+1 dimensional Chern–Simons like theories and suggest their possible relevance to the entropy of black holes.