Nonlinear integral equations for the black hole sigma model

Abstract

It was previously established that the critical staggered XXZ spin chain provides a lattice regularization of the black hole conformal field theory (CFT). We reconsider the continuum limit of this spin chain with the exact method of nonlinear integral equations (NLIEs), paying particular attention to the effects of a singular integration kernel. With the help of the NLIEs, we rederive the continuous black hole spectrum, but also numerically match the density of states of the spin chain with that of the CFT, which is a new result. Finally, we briefly discuss the integrable structure of the black hole CFT and the identification of its massive integrable perturbation on the lattice.