English

${\rm w}_{1+\infty}$ in 4D Gravitational Scattering

High Energy Physics - Theory 2023-12-15 v1

Abstract

In four-dimensional asymptotically flat spacetimes, an infinite tower of soft graviton modes is known to generate the symmetry algebra of w1+{\rm w}_{1+\infty} at tree-level. Here we demonstrate that the symmetry action follows from soft graviton theorems and acts non-trivially on massive scalar particles. By generalizing previous analyses that were specifically tailored to the scattering of massless particles, our results clarify that w1+{\rm w}_{1+\infty} symmetry is a universal feature of tree-level gravitational scattering in four-dimensional asymptotically flat spacetimes and originates from minimally-coupled gravitational interactions. In addition, we show that the w1+{\rm w}_{1+\infty} symmetry acts non-diagonally on massive states by mixing an infinite number of conformal families. We also present a concrete example of non-local behavior on the celestial sphere in the presence of massive scattering states.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2312.08597,
  title  = {${\rm w}_{1+\infty}$ in 4D Gravitational Scattering},
  author = {Elizabeth Himwich and Monica Pate},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2312.08597},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

36 pages plus references

R2 v1 2026-06-28T13:50:24.901Z