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Central charges in the canonical realization of asymptotic symmetries: An example from three dimensional gravity. (English) Zbl 0584.53039
It is shown that the global charges of a gauge theory may yield a nontrivial central extension of the asymptotic symmetry algebra already at the classical level. This is done by studying three dimensional gravity with a negative cosmological constant. The asymptotic symmetry group in that case is either $$R\times SO(2)$$ or the pseudo-conformal group in two dimensions, depending on the boundary conditions adopted at spatial infinity. In the latter situation, a nontrivial central charge appears in the algebra of the canonical generators, which turns out to be just the Virasoro central charge.

MSC:
 53C80 Applications of global differential geometry to the sciences 83C99 General relativity 83C30 Asymptotic procedures (radiation, news functions, $$\mathcal{H}$$-spaces, etc.) in general relativity and gravitational theory
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