Partial domain wall partition functions

We consider six-vertex model configurations on an n-by-N lattice, n =< N, that satisfy a variation on domain wall boundary conditions that we define and call "partial domain wall boundary conditions". We obtain two expressions for the corresponding "partial domain wall partition function", as an (N-by-N)-determinant and as an (n-by-n)-determinant. The latter was first obtained by I Kostov. We show that the two determinants are equal, as expected from the fact that they are partition functions of the same object, that each is a discrete KP tau-function, and, recalling that these determinants represent tree-level structure constants in N=4 SYM, we show that introducing 1-loop corrections, as proposed by N Gromov and P Vieira, preserves the determinant structure.Comment: 30 pages, LaTeX. This version, which appeared in JHEP, has an abbreviated abstract and some minor stylistic change

Nested Algebraic Bethe Ansatz for Open Spin Chains with Even Twisted Yangian Symmetry

We present a nested algebraic Bethe ansatz for a one dimensional open spin chain whose boundary quantum spaces are irreducible so2n- or sp2n-representations and the monodromy matrix satisfies the defining relations of the Olshanskii twisted Yangian Y±(gl2n). We use a generalization of the Bethe ansatz introduced by De Vega and Karowski which allows us to relate the spectral problem of a so2n- or sp2n-symmetric open spin chain to that of a gln-symmetric periodic spin chain. We explicitly derive the structure of the Bethe vectors and the nested Bethe equations

Crystallization of strongly interacting photons in a nonlinear optical fiber

Understanding strongly correlated quantum systems is a central problem in many areas of physics. The collective behavior of interacting particles gives rise to diverse fundamental phenomena such as confinement in quantum chromodynamics, phase transitions, and electron fractionalization in the quantum Hall regime. While such systems typically involve massive particles, optical photons can also interact with each other in a nonlinear medium. In practice, however, such interactions are often very weak. Here we describe a novel technique that allows the creation of a strongly correlated quantum gas of photons using one-dimensional optical systems with tight field confinement and coherent photon trapping techniques. The confinement enables the generation of large, tunable optical nonlinearities via the interaction of photons with a nearby cold atomic gas. In its extreme, we show that a quantum light field can undergo fermionization in such one-dimensional media, which can be probed via standard photon correlation measurements