The gravitational charge algebra of generic asymptotically locally (A)dS spacetimes is derived in $n$ dimensions. The analysis is performed in the Starobinsky/Fefferman-Graham gauge, without assuming any further boundary condition than the minimal falloffs for conformal compactification. In particular, the boundary structure is allowed to fluctuate and plays the role of source yielding some symplectic flux at the boundary. Using the holographic renormalization procedure, the divergences are removed from the symplectic structure, which leads to finite expressions. The charges associated with boundary diffeomorphisms are generically non-vanishing, non-integrable and not conserved, while those associated with boundary Weyl rescalings are non-vanishing only in odd dimensions due to the presence of Weyl anomalies in the dual theory. The charge algebra exhibits a field-dependent $2$-cocycle in odd dimensions. When the general framework is restricted to three-dimensional asymptotically AdS spacetimes with Dirichlet boundary conditions, the $2$-cocycle reduces to the Brown-Henneaux central extension. The analysis is also specified to leaky boundary conditions in asymptotically locally (A)dS spacetimes that lead to the $Λ$-BMS asymptotic symmetry group. In the flat limit, the latter contracts into the BMS group in $n$ dimensions.
We classify the asymptotic charges of a class of polyhomogeneous asymptotically-flat spacetimes with finite shear, generalising recent results on smooth asymptotically-flat spacetimes. Polyhomogenous spacetimes are a formally consistent class of spacetimes that do not satisfy the well-known peeling property. As such, they constitute a more physical class of asymptotically-flat spacetimes compared to the smooth class. In particular, we establish that the generalised conserved non-linear Newman-Penrose charges that are known to exist for such spacetimes are a subset of asymptotic BMS charges.
We study several properties of some new charges of asymptotically flat spacetimes. These dual supertranslation charges are akin to the magnetic large $U(1)$ charges in QED. In this paper we find the symmetries associated with these charges and show that the global dual supertranslation charge is topological because it is invariant under globally defined, smooth variations of the asymptotic metric. We also exhibit spacetimes where the charge does not vanish and we find dynamical processes that interpolate between regions with different values of these charges.
We apply the recent derivations of dual charges in asymptotically flat spacetimes to asymptotically locally AdS spacetimes. In contrast to the results in the flat case, in the AdS case with a Dirichlet boundary the dual charge contribution vanishes at the leading order. However, by focusing on the Taub-NUT-AdS solution, we show that nevertheless, more generally, the dual charge is non-vanishing and corresponds to the NUT parameter. We propose a complex first law of black mechanics in the presence of NUT charges that is inspired by the naturally complex nature of the charges derived using Hamil…
We study the charged scalar collapse in de Sitter spacetimes. With the electric charge, there is one more competitor to join the competition of dynamics in the gravitational collapse. We find that two factors can influence the electric charge. If we just adjust the charge conjugation, the electric charge effect is always perturbative at the black hole threshold. The electric charge can also be influenced by the initial conditions of perturbations. These initial parameters can be tuned to control the competition in dynamics and present us new and rich physics in the process of gravitational col…
There are important indications that nature may be locally finite-dimensional, i.e., that any spatially bounded subsystem can be described by a finite-dimensional local observable algebra. Motivated by these ideas, we show that operational spacetime topology is described by an atomistic Boolean algebra if (i) local observable algebras are finite-dimensional factors, (ii) the intersection of two local algebras is also local, and (iii) the commutant of a local algebra is also local. Thus, in this case, spacetime has a point-free granular behavior at small scales.
We present a covariant phase space construction of hamiltonian generators of asymptotic symmetries with `Dirichlet' boundary conditions in de Sitter spacetime, extending a previous study of Jäger. We show that the de Sitter charges so defined are identical to those of Ashtekar, Bonga, and Kesavan (ABK). We then present a comparison of ABK charges with other notions of de Sitter charges. We compare ABK charges with counterterm charges, showing that they differ only by a constant offset, which is determined in terms of the boundary metric alone. We also compare ABK charges with charges defined b…
We discuss the definition of conserved quantities in asymptotically locally de Sitter spacetimes. One may define an analogue of holographic charges at future and past infinity and at other Cauchy surfaces $I_t$ as integrals over the intersection of timelike surfaces $C$ and the Cauchy surface $I_t$. In general, the charges $Q^t$ defined on the Cauchy surface $I_t$ depend on $C$, but if gravitational flux is absent the charges are independent of $C$. On the other hand, if there is a net gravitational flux entering or leaving the spacetime region bounded by $C_1, C_2$ and two Cauchy surfaces the…
A new proposal for the notion of spacetime in a relativistic generalization of special relativity based on a modification of the composition law of momenta is presented. Locality of interactions is the principle which defines the spacetime structure for a system of particles. The formulation based on $κ$-Poincaré Hopf algebra is shown to be contained in this framework as a particular example.
We investigate the asymptotia of decelerating and spatially flat FLRW spacetimes at future null infinity. We find that the asymptotic algebra of diffeomorphisms can be enlarged to the recently discovered Weyl-BMS algebra for asymptotically flat spacetimes by relaxing the boundary conditions. This algebra remains undeformed in the cosmological setting contrary to previous extensions of the BMS algebra. We then study the equations of motion for asymptotically FLRW spacetimes with finite fluxes and show that the dynamics is fully constrained by the energy-momentum tensor of the source. Finally, w…
The present work discusses motion of neutral and charged particles in Reissner - Nordstrom spacetime. The constant energy paths are derived in a variational principle framework using the Jacobi metric which is parameterized by conserved particle energy. Of particular interest is the case of particle charge and Reissner-Nordstrom black hole charge being of same sign since this leads to a clash of opposing forces - gravitational (attractive) and Coulomb (repulsive). Our paper aims to compliment the recent works of Pugliese, Quevedo and Ruffini [1,2]. The energy dependent Gaussian curvature (indu…
We generalize a notion of 'conserved' charges given by Wald and Zoupas to the asymptotically de Sitter spacetimes. Surprisingly, our construction is less ambiguous than the one encountered in the asymptotically flat context. An expansion around exact solutions possessing Killing vectors provides their physical meaning. In particular, we discuss a question of how to define energy and angular momenta of gravitational waves propagating on Kottler and Carter backgrounds. We show that obtained expressions have a correct limit as $Λ\to 0$. We also comment on the relation between this approach and th…
We reexamine the relation between the Aretakis charge of an extremal black hole spacetime and the Newman-Penrose charge of a weakly asymptotically flat spacetime obtained from the original one through radial inversion and conformal mapping. Building on recent work by Godazgar, Godazgar and Pope, we present an explicit general relation between these quantities showing how the charge densities are mapped. As a non-trivial example we provide the computation of both quantities and their explicit relation for the extremal Kerr spacetime.
We study the motion of massive particles with electric and magnetic charges in the background of a magnetically charged Garfinkle-Horowitz-Strominger stringy black hole. We solve analytically the equations of motion of the test particles and we describe the orbital motion in terms of the Weierstrass elliptic functions. We find that there are critical values of the magnetic charge of the black hole and the magnetic charge of the test particle which characterize the bound and unbound orbits and we study two observables, the perihelion shift and the Lense-Thirring effect. The trajectories depend …
We discuss the canonical structure of a spacetime version of the radial gauge, i.e. Gaußian normal spacetime coordinates. While it was found for the spatial version of the radial gauge that a "local" algebra of observables can be constructed, it turns out that this is not possible for the spacetime version. The technical reason for this observation is that the new gauge condition needed to upgrade the spatial to a spacetime radial gauge does not Poisson-commute with the previous gauge conditions. It follows that the involved Dirac bracket is inherently non-local in the sense that no complete s…
We study and classify Lie algebras, homogeneous spacetimes and coadjoint orbits ("particles") of Lie groups generated by spatial rotations, temporal and spatial translations and an additional scalar generator. As a first step we classify Lie algebras of this type in arbitrary dimension. Among them is the prototypical Lifshitz algebra, which motivates this work and the name "Lifshitz Lie algebras". We classify homogeneous spacetimes of Lifshitz Lie groups. Depending on the interpretation of the additional scalar generator, these spacetimes fall into three classes: (1) ($d+2$)-dimensional Lifshi…
Simply-connected homogeneous spacetimes for kinematical and aristotelian Lie algebras (with space isotropy) have recently been classified in all dimensions. In this paper, we continue the study of these "maximally symmetric" spacetimes by investigating their local geometry. For each such spacetime and relative to exponential coordinates, we calculate the (infinitesimal) action of the kinematical symmetries, paying particular attention to the action of the boosts, showing in almost all cases that they act with generic non-compact orbits. We also calculate the soldering form, the associated viel…
A spacetime group is a connected 4-dimensional Lie group G endowed with a left invariant Lorentz metric h and such that the connected component of the isometry group of h is G itself. The Newman-Penrose formalism is used to give an algebraic classification of spacetime groups, that is, we determine a complete list of inequivalent spacetime Lie algebras, which are pairs (g,η), with g being a 4-dimensional Lie algebra and η being a Lorentzian inner product on g. A full analysis of the equivalence problem for spacetime Lie algebras is given which leads to a completely algorithmic solution to the …
We discuss the algebraic quantization of a real, massive scalar field in the Poincaré patch of the (d+1)-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime, with arbitrary boundary conditions. By using the functional formalism, we show that it is always possible to associate to such system an algebra of observables enjoying the standard properties of causality, time-slice axiom and F-locality. In addition, we characterize the wavefront set of the ground state associated to the system under investigation. As a consequence, we are able to generalize the definition of Hadamard states and construct a global alg…