  The boundary entropy log(g) of a critical one-dimensional quantum system (or
two-dimensional conformal field theory) is known to decrease under
renormalization group (RG) flow of the boundary theory. We study instead the
behavior of the boundary entropy as the bulk theory flows between two nearby
critical points. We use conformal perturbation theory to calculate the change
in g due to a slightly relevant bulk perturbation and find that it has no
preferred sign. The boundary entropy log(g) can therefore increase during
appropriate bulk flows. This is demonstrated explicitly in flows between
minimal models. We discuss the applications of this result to D-branes in
string theory and to impurity problems in condensed matter.
