General Square Lattice Vertex Models

Abstract

AbstractVertex models more general than the ice model are possible and often have physical applications. The square lattice admits the general sixteen-vertex model of which the special cases, the eight- and the six-vertex model, are the most relevant and physically interesting, in particular through their connection to the one-dimensional integrable quantum mechanical models and the Bethe ansatz. This chapter introduces power- ful tools to examine vertex models, including the R- and L-matrices to encode the Boltzmann vertex weights and the monodromy and transfer matrices, which encode the integrability of the vertex models (i.e. that transfer matrices of different spectral parameters commute). This integrability is ultimately expressed in the Yang–Baxter relations.