The boundary entropy function for interface conformal field theories

Abstract

{In 1+1 dimensional conformal field theory with a boundary the boundary contribution to the entanglement entropy is determined by a single number $g$ effectively counting the boundary degrees of freedom. In contrast, in 1+1 dimensional interface CFTs the corresponding quantity is a non-trivial {\it function} depending on the position of the interval relative to the interface, giving access to much more detailed information about the defect. In this work we determined this $g$-function in several examples using holography and derive some of its basic properties from holography and strong subadditivity.