Bit Threads in Higher Curvature Gravity

Abstract

We generalize holographic bit threads to bulk theories with a gravitational action containing higher-curvature terms. Bit threads are a reformulation of holographic entanglement entropy, where the entropy is given by the maximum number of threads emanating from a boundary region into the bulk. We show that the addition of higher-curvature terms adds corrections to the bit thread thickness that depend on the local geometry and thread orientation. Two different methods are given: determination of the density bound by requiring the maximum number of threads through a given surface to reproduce the entanglement entropy functional on that surface, and application of Lagrange dualization. The results of the two methods are applied to Gauss-Bonnet gravity as the simplest non-trivial example.

32 pages, 2 figures, v2: minor improvements to presentation, references added, published version