Log-gamma directed polymer with fixed endpoints via the replica Bethe Ansatz

Abstract

We study the model of a discrete directed polymer (DP) on a square lattice with homogeneous inverse gamma distribution of site random Boltzmann weights, introduced by Seppalainen (2012 Ann. Probab. 40 19–73). The integer moments of the partition sum, , are studied using a transfer matrix formulation, which appears as a generalization of the Lieb–Liniger quantum mechanics of bosons to discrete time and space. In the present case of the inverse gamma distribution the model is integrable in terms of a coordinate Bethe Ansatz, as discovered by Brunet. Using the Brunet-Bethe eigenstates we obtain an exact expression for the integer moments of for polymers of arbitrary lengths and fixed endpoint positions. Although these moments do not exist for all integer n, we are nevertheless able to construct a generating function which reproduces all existing integer moments and which takes the form of a Fredholm determinant (FD). This suggests an analytic continuation via a Mellin–Barnes transform and we thereby propose a FD ansatz representation for the probability distribution function (PDF) of Z and its Laplace transform. In the limit of a very long DP, this ansatz yields that the distribution of the free energy converges to the Gaussian unitary ensemble (GUE) Tracy-Widom distribution up to a non-trivial average and variance that we calculate. Our asymptotic predictions coincide with a result by Borodin et al (2013 Commun. Math. Phys. 324 215–32) based on a formula obtained by Corwin et al (2011 arXiv:1110.3489) using the geometric Robinson–Schensted–Knuth (gRSK) correspondence. In addition we obtain the dependence on the endpoint position and the exact elastic coefficient at a large time. We argue the equivalence between our formula and that of Borodin et al. As we will discuss, this provides a connection between quantum integrability and tropical combinatorics.