Holography as an Information Principle in Quantum Gravity

Abstract

We draw on ’t Hooft’s seminal formulation of the holographic principle to analyse the methodological and conceptual role of information in quantum gravity. We argue that, in 't Hooft's work and in later developments, information functions as a substantive guiding principle. We distinguish three aspects of this role: First, holographic bounds on the amount of information that can be stored in a region function as theory selection criteria that constrain viable quantum gravity theories. Second, holography functions as a principle of theoretical equivalence: the bulk and boundary theories must describe the same physical content, even though ’t Hooft privileges a more fundamental, lower-dimensional, and potentially deterministic boundary description. Third, the distribution and encoding of information link ’t Hooft’s proposals to contemporary work on bulk reconstruction, holographic quantum error correction, and ER=EPR, where emergent spacetime structure is tied to patterns of entanglement and redundancy. On the basis of these three roles, we argue that purely epistemic or Shannon-style conceptions of information are inadequate in this context: we instead outline a distinction between what we call maximal and intermediate conceptions that aim to capture the methodological and interpretative roles of information in holographic quantum gravity. We therefore suggest that, in the context of holography and quantum gravity, a more systematic philosophical treatment of the role of information as an interpretation-guiding principle would be desirable.