# 3D Gravity in a Box

### Submission summary

 As Contributors: Per Kraus · Ruben Monten Arxiv Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.13398v3 (pdf) Date accepted: 2021-09-08 Date submitted: 2021-08-30 02:51 Submitted by: Monten, Ruben Submitted to: SciPost Physics Academic field: Physics Specialties: High-Energy Physics - Theory Approach: Theoretical

### Abstract

The quantization of pure 3D gravity with Dirichlet boundary conditions on a finite boundary is of interest both as a model of quantum gravity in which one can compute quantities which are "more local" than S-matrices or asymptotic boundary correlators, and for its proposed holographic duality to $T \overline{T}$-deformed CFTs. In this work we apply covariant phase space methods to deduce the Poisson bracket algebra of boundary observables. The result is a one-parameter nonlinear deformation of the usual Virasoro algebra of asymptotically AdS$_3$ gravity. This algebra should be obeyed by the stress tensor in any $T\overline{T}$-deformed holographic CFT. We next initiate quantization of this system within the general framework of coadjoint orbits, obtaining - in perturbation theory - a deformed version of the Alekseev-Shatashvili symplectic form and its associated geometric action. The resulting energy spectrum is consistent with the expected spectrum of $T\overline{T}$-deformed theories, although we only carry out the explicit comparison to $\mathcal{O}(1/\sqrt{c})$ in the $1/c$ expansion.

Published as SciPost Phys. 11, 070 (2021)

This is a resubmission, corresponding to v3 on the arXiv, addressing the referee's comments.

### List of changes

- We added a comment in the discussion session about the analog formalism for JT gravity, as suggested by the referee.
- We corrected the typos and changed the definition of the hypersurface volume form in (3.13) so that (3.12) and (B.5) are consistent with it.