A classical Bousso bound for higher derivative corrections to general relativity

Abstract: Focussing on theories for which the higher derivative terms are considered as small corrections in the Lagrangian to Einstein's two-derivative theory of general relativity (GR), we prove the classical version of the covariant entropy bound (also known as the Bousso bound) in arbitrary diffeomorphism invariant gravitational theories. Even if the higher derivative corrections are treated perturbatively, we provide instances of specific configurations for which they can potentially violate the Bousso bound. To tackle this obstruction, we propose a modification in the Bousso bound that incorporates the offending contributions from the higher derivative corrections. We argue that the modified Bousso bound that we propose holds to all orders in the higher curvature corrections. Our proposed modifications are equivalent to replacing the Bekenstein-Hawking area term by Wald's definition (with dynamical corrections as suggested by Wall) for the black hole entropy. Hence, the modifications are physically well motivated by results from the laws of black hole mechanics in higher derivative theories.