Surface critical behaviour of an O(n) loop model related to two Manhattan lattice walk problems

Abstract

We find and discuss the scaling dimensions of the branch 0 manifold of the Nienhuis O(n) loop model on the square lattice, concentrating on the surface dimensions. The results are extracted from a Bethe ansatz calculation of the finite-size corrections to the eigenspectrum of the six-vertex model with free boundary conditions. These results are especially interesting for polymer physics at two values of the crossing parameter lambda . Interacting self-avoiding walks on the Manhattan lattice at the collapse temperature ( lambda = pi /3) and Hamiltonian walks on the Manhattan lattice ( lambda = pi /2) are discussed in detail. Our calculations illustrate the importance of examining both odd and even strip widths when performing finite-size correction calculations to obtain scaling dimensions.