BMS$_3$ invariant field theories
Abstract
We review existing and construct new two-dimensional field theories that exhibit BMS symmetry, with and without central extensions. These include interacting electric, magnetic and canonical BMS scalar theories, as well as couplings between the electric and magnetic sectors. We provide a careful analysis of boundary contributions at the corner points , determine the counterterms and boundary conditions required by BMS invariance, and study the corresponding variational principles. Furthermore, we introduce external sources and derive the associated flux-balance laws. Within the framework of flat-space holography, we show that a simple free electric BMS model with the appropriate central charge reproduces the monodromy classification of three-dimensional Einstein gravity. Finally, we investigate the flat-space limits of both AdS and dS, whose boundary dynamics are described by Carrollian limits of Liouville and Euclidean Liouville theory, respectively. Although the resulting BMS theories possess isomorphic spectra, they differ in the signs of the supertranslation charges and the central charge. This suggests that the flat-space limits of AdS and dS provide complementary realizations of flat-space holography.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2607.06826,
title = {BMS$_3$ invariant field theories},
author = {Diego Hidalgo and Stefan Vandoren and Huaxuan Zeng},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.06826},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
60 pages