"Bit threads in space and time"

Speaker: Matt Headrick, Brandeis University

When: January 24, 2018 (Wed), 04:00PM to 05:00PM (add to my calendar)
Location: PRB 595

This event is part of the HET Seminar Series.

Bit threads are a reformulation of the Ryu-Takayanagi holographic entanglement entropy formula that offer several conceptual advantages over the standard minimal-surface formulation. After briefly reviewing the basic bit thread story, I will explain how to extend them in three interesting directions. First, I will show how bit threads offer a novel proof of the "monogamy of mutual information" inequality for holographic entanglement entropies, and how the proof suggests a very specific entanglement structure for holographic states. Second, I will explain how to include higher-derivative corrections. Finally, I will explain how to make bit threads covariant, reproducing the Hubeny-Rangamani-Takayanagi formula.