Connected correlation function

The connected correlation of two observables is $⟨AB{⟩}_c=⟨AB⟩-⟨A⟩⟨B⟩$. It vanishes in a product state when $A$ and $B$ act on disjoint factors.

When an energy Hamiltonian contains $-h{\sum }_n{\sigma }_n$, differentiating its partition function gives $\chi =({\beta }_{\mathrm{th}}/N)\mathrm{Var}({\sum }_n{\sigma }_n)$. Translation invariance converts this to the connected-correlation sum. A dimensionless source ${\beta }_{\mathrm{th}}h$ removes the explicit inverse-temperature factor. In continuum physical coordinates the lattice sum includes the site-density factor $a^{-D}$. A selected pure thermodynamic phase is needed below an ordered transition to avoid a macroscopic mixture contribution.

In a symmetric equal mixture of two ordered pure thermodynamic phases with magnetizations $\pm M_0$, the mean spin vanishes but the large-distance two-spin expectation tends to $M_0^2$. Thus the connected correlation function of the mixture has a nondecaying part. The correlation-function susceptibility sum rule gives an extensive contribution ${\beta }_{\mathrm{th}}N{M}_0^2$ to susceptibility per spin. This is phase-switching response, not the connected susceptibility within one pure phase. The latter uses the thermodynamic limit followed by a one-sided zero-field limit, and subtracts the nonzero pure-phase mean before defining the correlation length.

In the scalar-field source Legendre transform, differentiating $h=\delta \Gamma /\delta m$ with respect to the source and using $G=\delta m/\delta h$ yields this inverse-kernel relation. For a scalar quartic Landau-Ginzburg theory, ${\Gamma }_{\mathrm{L}}^{(2)}=-{\nabla }^2+r_0+u_0{m}^2/2$, so the connected response is the Green kernel of that operator. A one-momentum representation requires a translationally invariant background.

An amputated connected correlation function is obtained by removing external propagators. Amputation using full propagators eliminates external self-energy decorations; internal exchange diagrams remain. It is distinct from a one-particle-irreducible correlation function. In a scalar theory with vanishing one-point function, at zero momentum the four-point quantity satisfies ${\mathcal{A}}_4=-{\Gamma }^{(4)}+3[{\Gamma }^{(3)}{]}^2/{\Gamma }^{(2)}$ with a convention in which connected diagram vertices are minus effective-action derivatives. For a constant scalar source, the Legendre relation $J={\Gamma }^{\prime }(\varphi )$ gives $G^{\prime \prime }=1/{\Gamma }^{\prime \prime }$ and $G^{\prime \prime \prime \prime }=-{\Gamma }^{\prime \prime \prime \prime }/({\Gamma }^{\prime \prime }{)}^4+3({\Gamma }^{\prime \prime \prime }{)}^2/({\Gamma }^{\prime \prime }{)}^5$. Dividing by the four full external propagators proves the formula.