SLE4 coupling with a Gaussian free field ($\lambda =\pi /2\text{when }{G}_{\mathbb{H}}(z,w)=\log |(z-\overline{w})/(z-w)|$)

For a Gaussian free field with boundary heights $-\lambda$ and $+\lambda$ on the two sides of the starting point, its distinguished zero-height interface has chordal ${\mathrm{SLE}}_4$ law. Conditional on an initial curve segment, the field is a zero-boundary field in the slit domain plus $m_t(z)=\lambda -(2\lambda /\pi )\arg (g_t(z)-W_t)$. Its mean bracket equals minus the variation of its conditional Green covariance. Subtracting the initial harmonic function gives the corresponding coupling to a zero-boundary field.

If a continuous mean martingale $M$ and a nonnegative finite-variation process $V$ satisfy $d⟨M⟩=-dV$, then the Itô formula shows $\exp (iM-V/2)$ is a bounded complex martingale. Its terminal expectation establishes an entire Gaussian distribution with the initial mean and variance. This is stronger than matching only the first two moments in a random-domain field construction.

A continuum field level line is specified by the harmonic boundary heights it creates and the conditional zero-boundary field remaining on each side. Since a Continuum Gaussian free field is a random distribution, this is not the pointwise set of its zeros. For the height jump appropriate to the Green-function normalization, the zero-height line between opposite Dirichlet heights is chordal ${\mathrm{SLE}}_4$.