$\widehat{sl_2}$ symmetry of ${\mathbb R}^{1,3}$ gravity

Abstract

We propose novel asymptotically locally flat boundary conditions for Einstein Gravity without cosmological constant in four dimensions that are consistent with the variational principle. They allow for complex solutions that are asymptotically diffeomorphic to flat space-times under complexified diffeomorphisms. We show that the resultant asymptotic symmetries are an extension of the Poincare algebra to a copy of Virasoro, a chiral $\mathfrak{sl}(2,{\mathbb C})$ current algebra along with two chiral $\mathfrak{u}(1)$ currents. We posit that these bulk symmetries are direct analogues of the recently discovered chiral algebra symmetries of gravitational scattering amplitudes as celestial CFT correlation functions.