The Holographic Principle for General Backgrounds

TL;DR

This paper extends the holographic principle to general, dynamic space-times, providing a covariant entropy bound applicable to various geometries, including cosmological and black hole interiors, aiding quantum gravity research.

Contribution

It introduces a covariant formalism for the holographic principle that applies universally, beyond static or special space-times, including closed cosmologies and black holes.

Findings

Provides a covariant entropy bound valid for all surfaces

Constructs holographic screens in arbitrary space-times

Generalizes the holographic principle beyond AdS space

Abstract

We aim to establish the holographic principle as a universal law, rather than a property only of static systems and special space-times. Our covariant formalism yields an upper bound on entropy which applies to both open and closed surfaces, independently of shape or location. It reduces to the Bekenstein bound whenever the latter is expected to hold, but complements it with novel bounds when gravity dominates. In particular, it remains valid in closed FRW cosmologies and in the interior of black holes. We give an explicit construction for obtaining holographic screens in arbitrary space-times (which need not have a boundary). This may aid the search for non-perturbative definitions of quantum gravity in space-times other than AdS.