Abstract
We use the Regge-Teitelboim method to treat surface integrals in gauge the- ories to find global charges in Chern-Simons theory. We derive the affine and Virasoro generators as global charges associated with symmetries of the boundary. The role of boundary conditions is clarified. We prove that for diffeomorphisms that do not preserve the boundary there is a classical contri- bution to the central charge in the Virasoro algebra. The example of anti-de Sitter 2+1 gravity is considered in detail.

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