Higher-Dimensional Supertranslations and Weinberg's Soft Graviton Theorem
Abstract
Asymptotic symmetries of theories with gravity in d=2m+2 spacetime dimensions are reconsidered for m>1 in light of recent results concerning d=4 BMS symmetries. Weinberg's soft graviton theorem in 2m+2 dimensions is re-expressed as a Ward identity for the gravitational S-matrix. The corresponding asymptotic symmetries are identified with 2m+2-dimensional supertranslations. An alternate derivation of these asymptotic symmetries as diffeomorphisms which preserve finite-energy boundary conditions at null infinity and act non-trivially on physical data is given. Our results differ from those of previous analyses whose stronger boundary conditions precluded supertranslations for d>4. We find for all even d that supertranslation symmetry is spontaneously broken in the conventional vacuum and identify soft gravitons as the corresponding Goldstone bosons.
Additional Information
© 2017 International Press. Submitted on 26 Feb 2015. We are grateful to T. Adamo, T. He, D. Jafferis, P. Mitra, H. Ooguri, A. Porfyriadis, M. Schwartz and A. Zhiboedov for useful conversations. This work was supported in part by NSF grant 1205550 and the Fundamental Laws Initiative at Harvard. The work of V.L. is supported in part by DOE grant DE-SC0011632 and the Sherman Fairchild scholarship. The work of S.P. is supported in part by the Smith Fellowship.Attached Files
Submitted - 1502.07644v1.pdf
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Additional details
- Eprint ID
- 55814
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20150316-144932089
- NSF
- PHY-1205550
- Harvard University
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- DE-SC0011632
- Sherman Fairchild Foundation
- Smith Fellowship
- Created
-
2015-03-16Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
-
2021-11-10Created from EPrint's last_modified field
- Caltech groups
- Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics
- Other Numbering System Name
- CALT-TH
- Other Numbering System Identifier
- 2015-006