English

Exact Mutual Information Difference: Scalar vs. Maxwell Fields

High Energy Physics - Theory 2026-02-20 v2

Abstract

We compute, for any R\'enyi index nn, the exact difference between the mutual R\'enyi informations of a pair of free massless scalars and that of a Maxwell field in d=4d=4 dimensions. Using the standard dimensional reduction method in polar coordinates, the problem is mapped to that of a single scalar field in d=2d=2 with Dirichlet boundary conditions, which in turn can be conveniently related to the algebra of a chiral current on the full line. This latter identification, which maps algebras on an interval to two-interval algebras, yields exact results that clarify the structure of the long-distance OPE perturbative expansion of the mutual information. We find that this series has a finite radius of convergence only for integer n>1n>1, while it becomes only asymptotical for n=1n=1 and general non-integer values of nn.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2511.04742,
  title  = {Exact Mutual Information Difference: Scalar vs. Maxwell Fields},
  author = {Nicolás Abate and Horacio Casini and Marina Huerta and Leandro Martinek},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.04742},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

v2. Comments added

R2 v1 2026-07-01T07:25:13.152Z