Extrinsic Holographic Renormalization for a Scalar Field

In the context of the holographic correspondence, we introduce a purely extrinsic renormalization prescription, exemplified with the case of a minimally-coupled scalar field in AdS space. The counterterms depend only on the field and its radial derivatives. Consistency with the Dirichlet variational principle is achieved considering that the asymptotic structure of asymptotically locally AdS spacetimes relates the tangential and radial derivatives of the field. Crucially, as seen from a path integral definition of the bulk partition function involved in the standard GKPW formula, this relation is valid beyond the saddle. We find that the extrinsic renormalization prescription is maximally efficient when the scalar field is massless, which is suggestive of a connection with the Kounterterm method for renormalization of pure gravity.