The spectrum properties of an integrable G2 invariant vertex model

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the study of properties of the exact solution of the fundamental integrable G2 vertex model. The model R-matrix and respective spin chain are presented in terms of the basis generators of the G2 Lie algebra. This formulation permits us to relate the number of the Bethe roots of the respective Bethe equations with the eigenvalues of the U(1) conserved charges from the Cartan subalgebra of G2. The Bethe equations are solved by a peculiar string structure which combines complex three-strings with real roots allowing us to determine the bulk properties in the thermodynamic limit. We argue that G2 spin chain is gapless but the low-lying excitations have two different speeds of sound and the underlying continuum limit is therefore not strictly Lorentz invariant. We have investigated the finite-size corrections to the ground state energy and proposed that the critical properties of the system should be governed by the product of two c=1 conformal field theories. By combining numerical and analytical methods we have computed the bulk free-energy of the G2 vertex model. We found that there are three regimes in the spectral parameter in which the free-energy is limited and continuous. There exists however at least two sharp corner points in which the bulk-free energy is not differentiable.