Open spin chains with generic integrable boundaries: Baxter equation and Bethe ansatz completeness from SOV

We solve the longstanding problem to define a functional characterization of the spectrum of the transfer matrix associated to the most general spin-1/2 representations of the 6-vertex reflection algebra for general inhomogeneous chains. The corresponding homogeneous limit reproduces the spectrum of the Hamiltonian of the spin-1/2 open XXZ and XXX quantum chains with the most general integrable boundaries. The spectrum is characterized by a second order finite difference functional equation of Baxter type with an inhomogeneous term which vanishes only for some special but yet interesting non-diagonal boundary conditions. This functional equation is shown to be equivalent to the known separation of variable (SOV) representation hence proving that it defines a complete characterization of the transfer matrix spectrum. The polynomial character of the Q-function allows us then to show that a finite system of equations of generalized Bethe type can be similarly used to describe the complete transfer matrix spectrum.Comment: 28 page

On determinant representations of scalar products and form factors in the SoV approach: the XXX case

In the present article we study the form factors of quantum integrable lattice models solvable by the separation of variables (SoV) method. It was recently shown that these models admit universal determinant representations for the scalar products of the so-called separate states (a class which includes in particular all the eigenstates of the transfer matrix). These results permit to obtain simple expressions for the matrix elements of local operators (form factors). However, these representations have been obtained up to now only for the completely inhomogeneous versions of the lattice models considered. In this article we give a simple algebraic procedure to rewrite the scalar products (and hence the form factors) for the SoV related models as Izergin or Slavnov type determinants. This new form leads to simple expressions for the form factors in the homogeneous and thermodynamic limits. To make the presentation of our method clear, we have chosen to explain it first for the simple case of the $XXX$ Heisenberg chain with anti-periodic boundary conditions. We would nevertheless like to stress that the approach presented in this article applies as well to a wide range of models solved in the SoV framework.Comment: 46 page

The open XXX spin chain in the SoV framework: scalar product of separate states

We consider the XXX open spin-1/2 chain with the most general non-diagonal boundary terms, that we solve by means of the quantum separation of variables (SoV) approach. We compute the scalar products of separate states, a class of states which notably contains all the eigenstates of the model. As usual for models solved by SoV, these scalar products can be expressed as some determinants with a non-trivial dependance in terms of the inhomogeneity parameters that have to be introduced for the method to be applicable. We show that these determinants can be transformed into alternative ones in which the homogeneous limit can easily be taken. These new representations can be considered as generalizations of the well-known determinant representation for the scalar products of the Bethe states of the periodic chain. In the particular case where a constraint is applied on the boundary parameters, such that the transfer matrix spectrum and eigenstates can be characterized in terms of polynomial solutions of a usual T-Q equation, the scalar product that we compute here corresponds to the scalar product between two off-shell Bethe-type states. If in addition one of the states is an eigenstate, the determinant representation can be simplified, hence leading in this boundary case to direct analogues of algebraic Bethe ansatz determinant representations of the scalar products for the periodic chain.Comment: 39 page

Non-diagonal open spin-1/2 XXZ quantum chains by separation of variables: Complete spectrum and matrix elements of some quasi-local operators

The integrable quantum models, associated to the transfer matrices of the 6-vertex reflection algebra for spin 1/2 representations, are studied in this paper. In the framework of Sklyanin's quantum separation of variables (SOV), we provide the complete characterization of the eigenvalues and eigenstates of the transfer matrix and the proof of the simplicity of the transfer matrix spectrum. Moreover, we use these integrable quantum models as further key examples for which to develop a method in the SOV framework to compute matrix elements of local operators. This method has been introduced first in [1] and then used also in [2], it is based on the resolution of the quantum inverse problem (i.e. the reconstruction of all local operators in terms of the quantum separate variables) plus the computation of the action of separate covectors on separate vectors. In particular, for these integrable quantum models, which in the homogeneous limit reproduce the open spin-1/2 XXZ quantum chains with non-diagonal boundary conditions, we have obtained the SOV-reconstructions for a class of quasi-local operators and determinant formulae for the covector-vector actions. As consequence of these findings we provide one determinant formulae for the matrix elements of this class of reconstructed quasi-local operators on transfer matrix eigenstates.Comment: 40 pages. Minor modifications in the text and some notations and some more reference adde

Form factors of descendant operators in the massive Lee-Yang model

The form factors of the descendant operators in the massive Lee-Yang model are determined up to level 7. This is first done by exploiting the conserved quantities of the integrable theory to generate the solutions for the descendants starting from the lowest non-trivial solutions in each operator family. We then show that the operator space generated in this way, which is isomorphic to the conformal one, coincides, level by level, with that implied by the $S$-matrix through the form factor bootstrap. The solutions we determine satisfy asymptotic conditions carrying the information about the level that we conjecture to hold for all the operators of the model.Comment: 23 page