When we have the generating functional $Z$ for a scalar field
\begin{equation} Z(J,J^{\dagger}) = \int{D\phi^{\dagger}D\phi \; \exp\left[{\int L+\phi^{\dagger}J(x)+J^{\dagger}(x)}\phi\right]}, \end{equation}
the partition function is $Z(0,0)$. We know that the derivatives of the generating functional give the propagator for the system, and it is often said that $Z(0,0)$ relates to the vacuum energy, and it is formally given by
\begin{equation} Z(0,0) = \langle 0,t_f|0,t_i \rangle. \end{equation}
How does this matrix element represent the vacuum energy of the system? Is it to do with the size of the fluctuations between the times $t_i$ and $t_f$? Or what is another interpretation of $Z(0,0)$?
Answer
The partition function $Z[J]$, both in QM and in CM, is underdetermined: any multiple of $Z[J]$ gives rise to the same dynamics. This means that $Z[0]$ is arbitrary, and is usually set to one: $$ Z[0]\equiv 1 \tag{1} $$ effectively getting rid of vacuum diagrams, that is, we set $H|\Omega\rangle=0$. In other words: the energy of the vacuum is not measurable and can be set to any number we want. We can only measure differences in energies (except in GR), which means that a constant offset of energies is irrelevant.
The matrix element $$ \langle 0,t_f|0,t_i\rangle \tag{2} $$ can be interpreted as the amplitude of ending up with a vacuum state at the time $t_f$ if you start with vacuum at a time $t_i$. Or put it another way, it is the amplitude to get nothing if you initially have nothing. This number is, naturally, one: $$ \langle 0,t_f|0,t_i\rangle\equiv 1 \tag{3} $$ in agreement with $(1)$.
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