Generating Charge from Diffeomorphisms

Abstract

We unravel some subtleties involving the definition of sphere angular momentum charges in AdS_q \times S^p spacetimes, or equivalently, R-symmetry charges in the dual boundary CFT. In the AdS_3 context, it is known that charges can be generated by coordinate transformations, even though the underlying theory is diffeomorphism invariant. This is the bulk version of spectral flow in the boundary CFT. We trace this behavior back to special properties of the p-form field strength supporting the solution, and derive the explicit formulas for angular momentum charges. This analysis also reveals the higher dimensional origin of three dimensional Chern-Simons terms and of chiral anomalies in the boundary theory.