The spin-1/2 XXZ Heisenberg chain, the quantum algebra U_q[sl(2)], and duality transformations for minimal models

The finite-size scaling spectra of the spin-1/2 XXZ Heisenberg chain with toroidal boundary conditions and an even number of sites provide a projection mechanism yielding the spectra of models with a central charge c<1 including the unitary and non-unitary minimal series. Taking into account the half-integer angular momentum sectors - which correspond to chains with an odd number of sites - in many cases leads to new spinor operators appearing in the projected systems. These new sectors in the XXZ chain correspond to a new type of frustration lines in the projected minimal models. The corresponding new boundary conditions in the Hamiltonian limit are investigated for the Ising model and the 3-state Potts model and are shown to be related to duality transformations which are an additional symmetry at their self-dual critical point. By different ways of projecting systems we find models with the same central charge sharing the same operator content and modular invariant partition function which however differ in the distribution of operators into sectors and hence in the physical meaning of the operators involved. Related to the projection mechanism in the continuum there are remarkable symmetry properties of the finite XXZ chain. The observed degeneracies in the energy and momentum spectra are shown to be the consequence of intertwining relations involving U_q[sl(2)] quantum algebra transformations.Comment: This is a preprint version (37 pages, LaTeX) of an article published back in 1993. It has been made available here because there has been recent interest in conformal twisted boundary conditions. The "duality-twisted" boundary conditions discussed in this paper are particular examples of such boundary conditions for quantum spin chains, so there might be some renewed interest in these result

A sufficient criterion for integrability of stochastic many-body dynamics and quantum spin chains

We propose a dynamical matrix product ansatz describing the stochastic dynamics of two species of particles with excluded-volume interaction and the quantum mechanics of the associated quantum spin chains respectively. Analyzing consistency of the time-dependent algebra which is obtained from the action of the corresponding Markov generator, we obtain sufficient conditions on the hopping rates for identifing the integrable models. From the dynamical algebra we construct the quadratic algebra of Zamolodchikov type, associativity of which is a Yang Baxter equation. The Bethe ansatz equations for the spectra are obtained directly from the dynamical matrix product ansatz.Comment: 19 pages Late

Critical phenomena and universal dynamics in one-dimensional driven diffusive systems with two species of particles

Recent work on stochastic interacting particle systems with two particle species (or single-species systems with kinematic constraints) has demonstrated the existence of spontaneous symmetry breaking, long-range order and phase coexistence in nonequilibrium steady states, even if translational invariance is not broken by defects or open boundaries. If both particle species are conserved, the temporal behaviour is largely unexplored, but first results of current work on the transition from the microscopic to the macroscopic scale yield exact coupled nonlinear hydrodynamic equations and indicate the emergence of novel types of shock waves which are collective excitations stabilized by the flow of microscopic fluctuations. We review the basic stationary and dynamic properties of these systems, highlighting the role of conservation laws and kinetic constraints for the hydrodynamic behaviour, the microscopic origin of domain wall (shock) stability and the coarsening dynamics of domains during phase separation.Comment: 72 pages, 6 figures, 201 references (topical review for J. Phys. A: Math. Gen.