Asymptotic symmetries of three dimensional gravity and the membrane paradigm

Abstract The asymptotic symmetry group of three-dimensional (anti) de Sitter space with Brown-Henneaux boundary conditions is the two dimensional conformal group with central charge c = 3ℓ/2G. Usually the asymptotic charge algebra is derived using the symplectic structure of the bulk Einstein equations. Here, we derive the asymptotic charge algebra by a different route. First, we formulate the dynamics of the boundary as a 1+1-dimensional dynamical system. Then we realize the boundary equations of motion as a Hamiltonian system on the dual Lie algebra, g ∗ $$ {\mathfrak{g}}^{\ast } $$ , of the two-dimensional conformal group. Finally, we use the Lie-Poisson bracket on g ∗ $$ {\mathfrak{g}}^{\ast } $$ to compute the asymptotic charge algebra. This streamlines the derivation of the asymptotic charge algebra because the Lie-Poisson bracket on the boundary is significantly simpler than the symplectic structure derived from the bulk Einstein equations. It also clarifies the analogy between the infinite dimensional symmetries of gravity and fluid dynamics