Entanglement entropy from correlation functions of scalar fields in and out of equilibrium
Phys. Rev. A 113, 062463 – Published 26 June, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/jt4g-j6mr
Abstract
We show that odd order Rényi entropies of a system of interacting scalar fields can be calculated as the free energy of replicas of the system with additional quadratic inter-replica couplings in the subsystem at the time of measurement of the entropy. These couplings replace boundary field matching conditions. This formalism works both in and out of thermal equilibrium, for closed as well as open quantum systems, and provides a general dictionary between measurable correlation functions and entanglement entropy. can be analytically continued to calculate the von Neumann entropy . We provide an exact formula relating and with correlation functions in a noninteracting theory. For interacting theories, we provide rules for constructing all possible Feynman diagrams for . We show that the boundary matching conditions cannot be completely eliminated while calculating Rényi entropies of even order due to the presence of zero modes in replica space.