Boundary conditions for Ashtekar-Barbero variables in the context of asymptotically flat spacetimes which lead to supertranslations at spatial infinity

Abstract: This paper delves into the exploration of suitable boundary conditions for the asymptotically flat scenario of general relativity presented in terms of Ashtekar-Barbero variables. While the standard parity conditions have been extensively studied in \cite{Thiemann, Campiglia}, it turns out that they fail to produce non-trivial supertranslations at spatial infinity. We propose new parity conditions for the Ashtekar-Barbero variables that do yield non-trivial supertranslation charges at spatial infinity. We compare our findings with those presented in \cite{Henneaux} and demonstrate that the new boundary conditions ensure the finiteness of the symplectic structure. Moreover, when embarking on the quest for appropriate parity conditions, it is essential to ensure that the selected parities remain invariant under hypersurface deformations. Given that working with Ashtekar-Barbero variables provides more asymptotic structure as compared to the ADM variables, it is shown that by fixing the Lagrange multiplier corresponding to the Gauss constraint, the invariance of certain parity conditions can be guaranteed.