  We consider the conformally invariant cubic wave equation on the Einstein
cylinder $\mathbb{R} \times \mathbb{S}^3$ for small rotationally symmetric
initial data. This simple equation captures many key challenges of nonlinear
wave dynamics in confining geometries, while a conformal transformation relates
it to a self-interacting conformally coupled scalar in four-dimensional anti-de
Sitter spacetime (AdS$_4$) and connects it to various questions of AdS
stability. We construct an effective infinite-dimensional time-averaged
dynamical system accurately approximating the original equation in the weak
field regime. It turns out that this effective system, which we call the
conformal flow, exhibits some remarkable features, such as low-dimensional
invariant subspaces, a wealth of stationary states (for which energy does not
flow between the modes), as well as solutions with nontrivial exactly periodic
energy flows. Based on these observations and close parallels to the cubic
Szego equation, which was shown by Gerard and Grellier to be Lax-integrable, it
is tempting to conjecture that the conformal flow and the corresponding weak
field dynamics in AdS$_4$ are integrable as well.
