Asymptotic symmetries and soft theorems in higher-dimensional gravity

Abstract

Soft theorems can be recast as Ward identities of asymptotic symmetries. We review such relation for the leading and subleading soft graviton theorems in arbitrary even dimensions. While soft theorems are trivially generalized to dimensions higher than four, the charges of asymptotic symmetries are plagued by divergences requiring a renormalization. We argue that the renormalized charges of these symmetries can be determined by rewriting soft theorems as Ward identities. In order to show that the charges of such identities generate asymptotic symmetries, we propose a suitable commutation relation among certain components of the metric fields