Conformal fluid dynamics

We present a conformal theory of a dissipationless relativistic fluid in 2 space-time dimensions. The theory carries with it a representation of the algebra of 2D area-preserving diffeomorphisms in the target space of the complex scalar potentials. A complete canonical description is given, and the central charge of the current algebra is calculated. The passage to the quantum theory is discussed in some detail; as a result of operator ordering problems, full quantization at the level of the fields is as yet an open problem. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.