The stated finite value
is the Casimir energy of a two-dimensional conformal field theory on the unit spatial circle. The plane-to-cylinder conformal map shifts the Hamiltonian by , so the global vacuum is dual to the CFT cylinder vacuum rather than to a state of zero cylinder energy. The sign assigned directly to the Lorentzian on-shell action depends on whether it is identified with the action density or with the vacuum-energy generating functional; the universal boundary datum is the vacuum energy supplied in the question.