AdS/CFT without holography: A hidden dimension on the CFT side and implications for black-hole entropy

We propose a new non-holographic formulation of AdS/CFT correspondence, according to which quantum gravity on AdS and its dual non-gravitational field theory both live in the same number D of dimensions. The field theory, however, appears (D-1)-dimensional because the interactions do not propagate in one of the dimensions. The D-dimensional action for the field theory can be identified with the sum over (D-1)-dimensional actions with all possible values $\Lambda$ of the UV cutoff, so that the extra hidden dimension can be identified with $\Lambda$. Since there are no interactions in the extra dimension, most of the practical results of standard holographic AdS/CFT correspondence transcribe to non-holographic AdS/CFT without any changes. However, the implications on black-hole entropy change significantly. The maximal black-hole entropy now scales with volume, while the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy is interpreted as the minimal possible black-hole entropy. In this way, the non-holographic AdS/CFT correspondence offers a simple resolution of the black-hole information paradox, consistent with a recently proposed gravitational crystal.