3d gravity in Bondi-Weyl gauge: charges, corners, and integrability

Abstract We introduce a new gauge and solution space for three-dimensional gravity. As its name Bondi-Weyl suggests, it leads to non-trivial Weyl charges, and uses Bondi-like coordinates to allow for an arbitrary cosmological constant and therefore spacetimes which are asymptotically locally (A)dS o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Marc Geiller, Christophe Goeller, Céline Zwikel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2021-09-01
Series:Journal of High Energy Physics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP09(2021)029
Description
Summary:Abstract We introduce a new gauge and solution space for three-dimensional gravity. As its name Bondi-Weyl suggests, it leads to non-trivial Weyl charges, and uses Bondi-like coordinates to allow for an arbitrary cosmological constant and therefore spacetimes which are asymptotically locally (A)dS or flat. We explain how integrability requires a choice of integrable slicing and also the introduction of a corner term. After discussing the holographic renormalization of the action and of the symplectic potential, we show that the charges are finite, symplectic and integrable, yet not conserved. We find four towers of charges forming an algebroid given by vir ⊕ vir ⊕ $$ \mathfrak{vir}\oplus \mathfrak{vir}\oplus $$ Heisenberg with three central extensions, where the base space is parametrized by the retarded time. These four charges generate diffeomorphisms of the boundary cylinder, Weyl rescalings of the boundary metric, and radial translations. We perform this study both in metric and triad variables, and use the triad to explain the covariant origin of the corner terms needed for renormalization and integrability.
ISSN:1029-8479