Decay of covariance for gradient models with non-convex potential

Abstract: We consider gradient models on the lattice $Z^d$. These models serve as effective models for interfaces and are also known as continuous Ising models. The height of the interface is modelled by a random field with an energy which is a non-convex perturbation of the quadratic interaction. We are interested in the Gibbs measure with tilted boundary condition $u$ at inverse temperature $\beta$ of this model. In this paper we present a fine analysis of the covariance of the gradient field. We show that the covariances of the Gibbs distribution agree with the covariance of the Gaussian free field up to terms which decay at a faster algebraic rate. The key tool is the extension of the renormalisation group method to observables as developed in [BBS15a].