Constraints on anisotropic RG flows from holographic entanglement entropy

Abstract

In the context of the gauge/gravity duality, using the proposed candidate $c$-function, which is derived from the entanglement entropy of a strip-shaped region, we investigate the RG flow for $d+1$-dimensional quantum field theories with broken Lorentz and rotational symmetries in the IR, but preserved conformal invariance in the UV boundary. We examine conditions of monotonicity of the $c$-function for holographic anisotropic theories dual to the Einstein gravity via the constraints imposed by the null energy conditions. We consider near UV and IR behaviors and identify the sufficient conditions that guarantee the $c$ function decreases monotonically along the RG flows.