Variables for constraint free null canonical vacuum general relativity are presented which have simple Poisson brackets that facilitate quantization. Free initial data for vacuum general relativity on a pair of intersecting null hypersurfaces has been known since the 1960s. These consist of the "main" data which are set on the bulk of the two null hypersurfaces, and additional "surface" data set only on their intersection 2-surface. More recently the complete set of Poisson brackets of such data has been obtained. However the complexity of these brackets is an obstacle to their quantization. Part of this difficulty may be overcome using methods from the treatment of cylindrically symmetric gravity. Specializing from general to cylindrically symmetric solutions changes the Poisson algebra of the null initial data surprisingly little, but cylindrically symmetric vacuum general relativity is an integrable system, making powerful tools available. Here a transformation is constructed at the cylindrically symmetric level which maps the main initial data to new data forming a Poisson algebra for which an exact deformation quantization is known. (Although an auxiliary condition on the data has been quantized only in the asymptotically flat case, and a suitable representation of the algebra of quantum data by operators on a Hilbert space has not yet been found.) The definition of the new main data generalizes naturally to arbitrary, symmetryless gravitational fields, with the Poisson brackets retaining their simplicity. The corresponding generalization of the quantization is however ambiguous and requires further analysis.
In this paper we consider introducing careful regularization in the quantization of Maxwell theory in the asymptotic null infinity. This allows systematic discussions of the commutators in various boundary conditions, and application of Dirac brackets accordingly in a controlled manner. This method is most useful when we consider asymptotic charges that are not localized at the boundary $u\to \pm \infty$ like large gauge transformations. We show that our method reproduces the operator algebra in known cases, and it can be applied to other space-time symmetry charges such as the BMS transformat…
We study surface charges on a generic null boundary in three dimensional topological massive gravity (TMG). We construct the solution phase space which involves four independent functions over the two dimensional null boundary. One of these functions corresponds to the massive chiral propagating graviton mode of TMG. The other three correspond to three surface charges of the theory, two of which can always be made integrable, while the last one can become integrable only in the absence of the chiral massive graviton flux through the null boundary. As the null boundary symmetry algebra we obtai…
In four dimensions, the most general metric admitting two Killing vectors and a rank-two Killing tensor can be parameterized by ten arbitrary functions of a single variable. We show that picking a special vierbien, reducing the system to eight functions, implies the existence of two geodesic and share-free, null congruences, generated by two principal null directions of the Weyl tensor. Thus, if the spacetime is an Einstein manifold, the Goldberg-Sachs theorem implies it is Petrov type D, and by explicit construction, is in the Carter class. Hence, our analysis provide an straightforward conne…
The Hawking effect is one of the most extensively studied topics in modern physics. Yet it remains relatively under-explored within the framework of canonical quantization. The key difficulty lies in the fact that the Hawking effect is principally understood using the relation between the ingoing modes which leave past null infinity and the outgoing modes which arrive at future null infinity. Naturally, these modes are described using advanced and retarded null coordinates instead of the usual Schwarzschild coordinates. However, null coordinates do not lead to a true Hamiltonian that describes…
Expanding around null hypersurfaces, such as generic Kerr black hole horizons, using co-rotating Kruskal-Israel-like coordinates we study the associated surface charges, their symmetries and the corresponding phase space within Einstein gravity. Our surface charges are not integrable in general. Their integrable part generates an algebra including superrotations and a BMS_3-type algebra that we dub "T-Witt algebra". The non-integrable part accounts for the flux passing through the null hypersurface. We put our results in the context of earlier constructions of near horizon symmetries, soft hai…
We carry out in full generality and without fixing specific boundary conditions, the symmetry and charge analysis near a generic null surface for two and three dimensional (2d and 3d) gravity theories. In 2d and 3d there are respectively two and three charges which are generic functions over the codimension one null surface. The integrability of charges and their algebra depend on the state-dependence of symmetry generators which is a priori not specified. We establish the existence of infinitely many choices that render the surface charges integrable. We show that there is a choice, the "fund…
We investigate the geometry of a twisting non-shearing congruence of null geodesics on a conformal manifold of even dimension greater than four and Lorentzian signature. We give a necessary and sufficient condition on the Weyl tensor for the twist to induce an almost Robinson structure, that is, the screen bundle of the congruence is equipped with a bundle complex structure. In this case, the (local) leaf space of the congruence acquires a partially integrable contact almost CR structure of positive definite signature. We give further curvature conditions for the integrability of the almost Ro…
