The energy-momentum tensor and local translation Ward identities constitute the essential toolkit to probe the response of a QFT to an infinitesimal change of geometry. This is relevant in a number of contexts. For instance in order to get the thermodynamical equation of state, one wants to study the response of a Euclidean QFT in a finite box to a change in the size of the box.
The lattice formulation of QFTs is a prime tool to study their dynamics beyond perturbation theory. However Poincaré invariance is explicitly broken, and is supposed to be recovered only in the continuum limit. Approximate local Ward identities for translations can be defined, by they require some care for two reasons: 1) the energy-momentum tensor needs to be properly defined through a renormalization procedure; 2) the action of infinitesimal local translations (i.e. infinitesimal diffeomorfisms) is ill-defined on local observables.
In this talk I will review the issues related to the renormalization of the energy-momentum tensor on the lattice. I will also show how it is possible to define properly the action of infinitesimal diffeomorfisms on a particular class of observables, i.e. non local observables defined through the gradient flow. I will present also possible numerical applications.
