Using the anti-de Sitter conformal theory correspondence, we examine holographic renormalization group flows in a framework where the bulk gravity contains higher curvature interactions. This holographic model allows us to distinguish the flow of the different central charges in dual theory. For example, in four dimensions, one finds that the flow of the central charge $a$ is naturally monotonic but that of $c$ is not. Our results agree with Cardy’s proposal to extend Zamolodchikov’s c-theorem to higher dimensions. We are also led to formulate a novel c-theorem for a universal coefficient appearing in the entanglement entropy of the fixed point conformal theories in any (including an odd) number of dimensions.

• Received 12 June 2010

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.82.046006