Entanglement entropy, planar surfaces, and spectral functions

Abstract: We consider the universal part of entanglement entropy across a plane in flat space for a QFT, giving a non-perturbative expression in terms of a spectral function. We study the change in entanglement entropy under a deformation by a relevant operator, providing a pertrubative expansion where the terms are correlation functions in the undeformed theory. The entanglement entropy for free massive fermions and scalars easily follows. Finally, we study entanglement entropy across a plane in a background geometry that is a deformation of flat space, finding new universal terms arising from mixing of geometry and couplings of the QFT.