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In a six-dimensional cubic scalar field theory, three labelled box Feynman diagrams give the one-loop local quartic vertex at zero external momentum. With an effective-action term $g_4{\varphi }^4/4!$, their contribution is $\delta g_4=-3g^4{I}_4$. To check its sign and multiplicity, expand the one-loop scalar effective action as $\frac{1}{2}\mathrm{Tr}\log (D+g\varphi )$, where $D=-{\partial }^2+m^2$. Its fourth-order term is $-g^4\mathrm{Tr}(D^{-1}\varphi {)}^4/8$, giving the stated coefficient. The associated amputated connected diagram insertion has the opposite sign.

In the six-dimensional cubic scalar field theory, use full external-propagator amputation and tadpole subtraction. The exchange part of the zero-momentum four-point amplitude isThe triangle corrects either end of each of three exchanges, and the symmetry factor of an internal bubble is $1/2$. Equivalently insert ${\Gamma }^{(3)}=g+g^3{I}_3$ and ${\Gamma }^{(2)}=m^2-g^2{I}_2/2$ into $3[{\Gamma }^{(3)}{]}^2/{\Gamma }^{(2)}$. Without tadpole subtraction, the shift $v=-g{I}_1/(2m^2)$ adds $3g^4{I}_1/(2m^6)$. None of these is an additional local 1PI quartic coupling; zero-momentum bridges are also excluded from a strict high-mode Wilsonian shell. If bare rather than full external propagators are amputated, external-line decorations additionally contribute $6g^4{I}_2/m^4$, and $6g^4{I}_1/m^6$ without tadpole subtraction. Every displayed term has mass dimension minus two. In a renormalized expansion, the exchange diagrams also receive the counterterm insertions $6g\delta g/m^2-3g^2\delta m^2/m^4$. Without enforcing a zero one-point function, a linear counterterm $\delta h\varphi$ contributes $3g^3\delta h/m^6$ through the background shift; choosing $\delta h=-g{I}_1/2$ cancels the attached tadpole. A kinetic counterterm is proportional to the exchanged momentum squared, so its insertion vanishes at this zero-momentum point.

For a connected Feynman diagram with cubic vertices with four external legs and one loop, $3V=2I+4$ and $1=I-V+1$ give $V=I=4$. In a one-particle-irreducible Feynman diagram, every internal edge lies on the single cycle. Each of the four cubic vertices therefore has two internal and one external leg, giving a box Feynman diagram. With labelled external momenta there are three inequivalent cyclic orderings, modulo rotation and reversal, represented by $1234$, $1243$ and $1324$:

Take all momenta incoming with ${\sum }_i{p}_i=0$. The Feynman rules for the Euclidean action give a propagator $(q^2+m^2{)}^{-1}$ and a cubic insertion $-g$. For order $1234$, the amputated connected insertion iswhere $\chi (q)=1_{\{\Lambda <|q|<{\Lambda }_0\}}$ is the high-mode projector for a strict Wilsonian effective action. Each labelled box has Feynman-diagram symmetry factor one. A common fixed-loop-cutoff convention instead restricts only the chosen $q$ integration to the shell; both prescriptions give the same zero-external-momentum value. The effective-action vertex has the opposite sign to this connected insertion. Thus $\boxed{\text{three labelled boxes, with one cyclic topology}.}$

A linear counterterm can be chosen so that the renormalized one-point function, or equivalently the chosen vacuum expectation value, is zero. This cancels attached tadpole diagrams in the perturbative expansion about that vacuum. In a massive six-dimensional cubic scalar field theory, the one-loop proper tadpole is $t=g{I}_1/2$; without subtraction the stationary background shifts by $v=-t/m^2+O(g^3)$ at one-loop order. One must specify this convention when comparing reducible exchange diagrams or mass corrections.

A triangle Feynman diagram has a loop of three propagators joining three vertices. In six-dimensional cubic scalar field theory it gives a one-loop three-point proper vertex. Attaching a cubic tree vertex makes a four-point connected diagram, but the connecting propagator is a bridge, so the latter is a one-particle-reducible Feynman diagram.