Field theories on null manifolds

Abstract

Abstract We argue that generic field theories defined on null manifolds should have an emergent BMS or conformal Carrollian structure. We then focus on a simple interacting conformal Carrollian theory, viz. Carrollian scalar electrodynamics. We look at weak (on-shell) and strong invariance (off-shell) of its equations of motion under conformal Carrollian symmetries. Helmholtz conditions are necessary and sufficient conditions for a set of equations to arise from a Lagrangian. We investigate whether the equations of motion of Carrollian scalar electrodynamics satisfy these conditions. Then we proposed an action for the electric sector of the theory. This action is the first example for an interacting conformal Carrollian Field Theory. The proposed action respects the finite and infinite conformal Carrollian symmetries in d = 4. We calculate conserved charges corresponding to these finite and infinite symmetries and then rewrite the conserved charges in terms of the canonical variables. We finally compute the Poisson brackets for these charges and confirm that infinite Carrollian conformal algebra is satisfied at the level of charges.