Asymptotic structure of topologically massive gravity in spacelike stretched AdS sector

Abstract: We introduce a natural set of asymptotic conditions in the spacelike stretched AdS sector of topologically massive gravity. The Poisson bracket algebra of the canonical generators is shown to have the form of the semi-direct sum of a $u(1)$ Kac-Moody and a Virasoro algebra, with central charges. Using the Sugawara construction, we prove that the asymptotic symmetry coincides with the conformal symmetry, described by two independent Virasoro algebras with central charges. The result is in complete agreement with the hypothesis made in [6].