AdS Vacuum Bubbles, Holography and Dual RG Flows

Abstract

We explore the holographic properties of non-perturbative vacuum decay in Anti-de Sitter ($\mathrm{AdS}$) geometries. To this end, we consider a gravitational theory in a metastable $\mathrm{AdS}_3$ state, which decays into an $\mathrm{AdS}_3$ of lower vacuum energy via bubble nucleation, and we employ the Ryu-Takayanagi conjecture to compute the entanglement entropy $S_\text{ent}$ in its alleged holographic dual. Our analysis leads us to infer that the nucleation and growth of a vacuum bubble correspond, in the boundary theory, to the introduction of a relevant deformation and a subsequent Renormalization Group (RG) flow, where $S_\text{ent}$ provides a $c$-function. We provide further evidence for the claim and comment on the holographic interpretation of off-centred or multiple bubbles. We also frame the issue in the formalism of Holographic Integral Geometry, discussing the consequences on the structure of the holographic RG flow and recovering the standard holographic RG as a limiting case.