Charge algebra for non-abelian large gauge symmetries at O(r)

Asymptotic symmetries of gauge theories are known to encode infrared properties of radiative fields. In the context of tree-level Yang-Mills theory, the leading soft behavior of gluons is captured by large gauge symmetries with parameters that are O(1) in the large r expansion towards null infinity. This relation can be extended to subleading order provided one allows for large gauge symmetries with O(r) gauge parameters. The latter, however, violate standard asymptotic field fall-offs and thus their interpretation has remained incomplete. We improve on this situation by presenting a relaxation of the standard asymptotic field behavior that is compatible with O(r) gauge symmetries at linearized level. We show the extended space admits a symplectic structure on which O(1) and O(r) charges are well defined and such that their Poisson brackets reproduce the corresponding symmetry algebra

Loop corrected soft photon theorem as a Ward identity

Recently Sahoo and Sen obtained a series of remarkable results concerning subleading soft photon and graviton theorems in four dimensions. Even though the S-matrix is infrared divergent, they have shown that the subleading soft theorems are well defined and exact statements in QED and perturbative Quantum Gravity. However unlike the well studied Cachazo-Strominger soft theorems in tree-level amplitudes, the new subleading soft expansion is at the order ln ω (where ω is the soft frequency) and the corresponding soft factors structurally show completely different properties then their tree-level counterparts. Whence it is natural to ask if these theorems are associated to asymptotic symmetries of the S-matrix. We consider this question in the context of sub-leading soft photon theorem in scalar QED and show that there are indeed an infinity of conservation laws whose Ward identities are equivalent to the loop-corrected soft photon theorem. This shows that in the case of four dimensional QED, the leading and sub-leading soft photon theorems are equivalent to Ward identities of (asymptotic) charges

A double copy for asymptotic symmetries in the self-dual sector

We give a double copy construction for the symmetries of the self-dual sectors of Yang-Mills (YM) and gravity, in the light-cone formulation. We find an infinite set of double copy constructible symmetries. We focus on two families which correspond to the residual diffeomorphisms on the gravitational side. For the first one, we find novel non-perturbative double copy rules in the bulk. The second family has a more striking structure, as a non-perturbative gravitational symmetry is obtained from a perturbatively defined symmetry on the YM side. At null infinity, we find the YM origin of the subset of extended Bondi-Metzner-Sachs (BMS) symmetries that preserve the self-duality condition. In particular, holomorphic large gauge YM symmetries are double copied to holomorphic supertranslations. We also identify the single copy of superrotations with certain non-gauge YM transformations that to our knowledge have not been previously presented in the literature

Charge algebra for non-abelian large gauge symmetries at O(r)

Asymptotic symmetries of gauge theories are known to encode infrared properties of radiative fields. In the context of tree-level Yang-Mills theory, the leading soft behavior of gluons is captured by large gauge symmetries with parameters that are O(1) in the large r expansion towards null infinity. This relation can be extended to subleading order provided one allows for large gauge symmetries with O(r) gauge parameters. The latter, however, violate standard asymptotic field fall-offs and thus their interpretation has remained incomplete. We improve on this situation by presenting a relaxation of the standard asymptotic field behavior that is compatible with O(r) gauge symmetries at linearized level. We show the extended space admits a symplectic structure on which O(1) and O(r) charges are well defined and such that their Poisson brackets reproduce the corresponding symmetry algebra

Asymptotic charges from soft scalars in even dimensions

We study asymptotic charges associated with a spin-zero analog of Weinberg's soft photon and graviton theorems in even dimensions. Simple spacetime expressions for the charges are given, but unlike gravity or electrodynamics, the symmetry interpretation for the charges remains elusive. This work is a higher dimensional extension of the four-dimensional case studied by Campiglia [Phys. Rev. D 97, 046002 (2018)]PRVDAQ2470-001010.1103/PhysRevD.97.046002

Asymptotic charges in massless QED revisited: a view from spatial infinity

Hamada and Shiu have recently shown that tree level amplitudes in QED satisfy an in nite hierarchy of soft photon theorems, the rst two of which are Weinberg and Low's theorems respectively. In this paper we propose that in tree level massless QED, this entire hierarchy is equivalent to a hierarchy of (asymptotic) conservation laws. We prove the equivalence explicitly for the case of sub-subleading soft photon theorem and give substantial evidence that the equivalence continues to hold for the entire hierarchy. Our work also brings out the (complimentary) relationship between the asymptotic charges associated to soft theorems and the well known Newman-Penrose charges

Asymptotic U(1) charges at spatial infinity

Large gauge symmetries in Minkowski spacetime are often studied in two distinct regimes: either at asymptotic (past or future) times or at spatial infinity. By working in harmonic gauge, we provide a unified description of large gauge symmetries (and their associated charges) that applies to both regimes. At spatial infinity the charges are conserved and interpolate between those defined at the asymptotic past and future. This explains the equality of asymptotic past and future charges, as recently proposed in connection with Weinberg’s soft photon theorem

Sub-subleading soft gravitons and large diffeomorphisms

We present strong evidence that the sub-subleading soft theorem in semiclassical (tree level) gravity discovered by Cachazo and Strominger is equivalent to the conservation of asymptotic charges associated to a new class of vector fields not contained within the previous extensions of BMS algebra. Our analysis crucially relies on analyzing the hitherto established equivalences between soft theorems and Ward identities from a new perspective. In this process we naturally (re)discover a class of ‘magnetic’ charges at null infinity that are associated to the dual of the Weyl tensor

Subleading soft photons and large gauge transformations

Lysov, Pasterski and Strominger have shown how Low’s subleading soft photon theorem can be understood as Ward identities of new symmetries of massless QED. In this paper we offer a different perspective and show that there exists a class of large U(1) gauge transformations such that (i) the associated (electric and magnetic) charges can be computed from first principles, (ii) their Ward identities are equivalent to Low’s theorem. Our framework paves the way to analyze the sub-subleading theorem in gravity in terms of Ward identities associated to large diffeomorphisms