$w_{1+\infty}$ and Carrollian Holography

Abstract

In a $1+2$D Carrollian conformal field theory, the Ward identities of the two local fields $S^+_0$ and $S^+_1$, entirely built out of the Carrollian conformal stress-tensor, contain respectively up to the leading and the subleading positive helicity soft graviton theorems in the $1+3$D asymptotically flat space-time. This work investigates how the subsubleading soft graviton theorem can be encoded into the Ward identity of a Carrollian conformal field $S^+_2$. The operator product expansion (OPE) $S^+_2S^+_2$ is constructed using general Carrollian conformal symmetry principles and the OPE commutativity property, under the assumption that any time-independent, non-Identity field that is mutually local with $S^+_0,S^+_1,S^+_2$ has positive Carrollian scaling dimension. It is found that, for this OPE to be consistent, another local field $S^+_3$ must automatically exist in the theory. The presence of an infinite tower of local fields $S^+_{k\geq3}$ is then revealed iteratively as a consistency condition for the $S^+_2S^+_{k-1}$ OPE. The general $S^+_kS^+_l$ OPE is similarly obtained and the symmetry algebra manifest in this OPE is found to be the Kac-Moody algebra of the wedge sub-algebra of $w_{1+\infty}$. The Carrollian time-coordinate plays the central role in this purely holographic construction. The 2D Celestial conformally soft graviton primary $H^k(z,\bar{z})$ is realized to be contained in the Carrollian conformal primary $S_{1-k}^+(t,z,\bar{z})$. Finally, the existence of the infinite tower of fields $S^+_{k}$ is shown to be directly related to an infinity of positive helicity soft graviton theorems.