The scattering matrix (S-matrix), relating the initial and final states of a physical system undergoing a scattering process, is a fundamental object in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. The study of factorized S-matrices, in which many-body scattering factorizes into a product of two-body terms to yield an integrable model, has long been considered the domain of mathematical physics. Many beautiful results have been obtained over several decades for integrable models of this kind, with far reaching implications in both mathematics and theoretical physics. The viewpoint that these were only toy models changed dramatically with brilliant experimental advances in realizing low-dimensional quantum many-body systems in the lab. These recent experiments involve both the traditional setting of condensed matter physics and the trapping and cooling of atoms in optical lattices to engineer and study quasi-one-dimensional systems. In some cases the quantum physics of one-dimensional systems is arguably more interesting than their three-dimensional counterparts, because the effect of interactions is more pronounced when atoms are confined to one dimension. This article provides a brief overview of these ongoing developments, which highlight the fundamental importance of integrability.
The scattering matrix (S-matrix), relating the initial and final states of a physical system undergoing a scattering process, is a fundamental object in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. The study of factorized S-matrices, in which many-body scattering factorizes into a product of two-body terms to yield an integrable model, has long been considered the domain of mathematical physics. Many beautiful results have been obtained over several decades for integrable models of this kind, with far reaching implications in both mathematics and theoretical physics. The viewpoint that these were only toy models changed dramatically with brilliant experimental advances in realizing low-dimensional quantum many-body systems in the lab. These recent experiments involve both the traditional setting of condensed matter physics and the trapping and cooling of atoms in optical lattices to engineer and study quasi-one-dimensional systems. In some cases the quantum physics of one-dimensional systems is arguably more interesting than their three-dimensional counterparts, because the effect of interactions is more pronounced when atoms are confined to one dimension. This article provides a brief overview of these ongoing developments, which highlight the fundamental importance of integrability.
The scattering matrix (S-matrix), relating the initial and final states of a physical system undergoing a scattering process, is a fundamental object in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. The study of factorised S-matrices, in which many-body scattering factorizes into a product of two-body terms to yield an integrable model, has long been considered the domain of mathematical physics. Many beautiful results have been obtained over several decades for integrable models of this kind, with far reaching implications in both mathematics and theoretical physics. The viewpoint that these were only toy models changed dramatically with brilliant experimental advances in realizing low-dimensional quantum many-body systems in the lab. These recent experiments involve both the traditional setting of condensed matter physics and the trapping and cooling of atoms in optical lattices to engineer and study quasi-one-dimensional systems. In some cases the quantum physics of one-dimensional systems is arguably more interesting than their three-dimensional counterparts, because the effect of interactions is more pronounced when atoms are confined to one dimension. This article provides a brief overview of these ongoing developments, which highlight the fundamental importance of integrability.
This article presents an elementary introduction on various aspects of the prototypical integrable model the Lieb–Liniger Bose gas ranging from the cooperative to the collective features of many-body phenomena. In 1963, Lieb and Liniger first solved this quantum field theory many-body problem using Bethe's hypothesis, i.e., a particular form of wavefunction introduced by Bethe in solving the one-dimensional Heisenberg model in 1931. Despite the Lieb–Liniger model is arguably the simplest exactly solvable model, it exhibits rich quantum many-body physics in terms of the aspects of mathematical integrability and physical universality. Moreover, the Yang–Yang grand canonical ensemble description for the model provides us with a deep understanding of quantum statistics, thermodynamics, and quantum critical phenomena at the many-body physical level. Recently, such fundamental physics of this exactly solved model has been attracting growing interest in experiments. Since 2004, there have been more than 20 experimental papers that reported novel observations of different physical aspects of the Lieb–Liniger model in the laboratory. So far the observed results are in excellent agreement with results obtained using the analysis of this simplest exactly solved model. Those experimental observations reveal the unique beauty of integrability.
Over the past two decades quantum engineering has made significant advances in our ability to create genuine quantum many-body systems using ultracold atoms. In particular, some prototypical exactly solvable Yang-Baxter systems have been successfully realized allowing us to confront elegant and sophisticated exact solutions of these systems with their experimental counterparts. The new experimental developments show a variety of fundamental one-dimensional (1D) phenomena, ranging from the generalized hydrodynamics to dynamical fermionization, Tomonaga-Luttinger liquids, collective excitations, fractional exclusion statistics, quantum holonomy, spin-charge separation, competing orders with high spin symmetry and quantum impurity problems. This article briefly reviews these developments and provides rigorous understanding of those observed phenomena based on the exact solutions while highlighting the uniqueness of 1D quantum physics. The precision of atomic physics realizations of integrable many-body problems continues to inspire significant developments in mathematics and physics while at the same time offering the prospect to contribute to future quantum technology.
Abstract Quantum integrability provides a unique and powerful framework for accurately understanding quantum magnetism. In this review, we focus specifically on several quantum integrable low-dimensional quantum Ising models. We begin with the transverse field Ising chain (TFIC) at quantum critical point and examine how it evolves under perturbations, such as an applied longitudinal field or weak coupling to another quantum critical TFIC. These perturbations reveal a wealth of emergent quantum integrable field theories with exotic many-body excitations, elegantly characterized by conformal invariance and the E 8 and D 8 ( 1 ) Lie algebras, respectively. In exploring these models, we also delve into the framework of exact scattering matrices, which is related to determining spin dynamics within these systems. Finally, we show how the emergent phenomena in these integrable quantum Ising models find experimental realization in Co-based quasi-one-dimensional quantum magnetic materials. The substantial theoretical and experimental advancements in these systems highlight the profound connections between quantum integrable field theory, statistical field theory, and condensed matter physics.
Almost any of the great textbooks available on scattering theory continues to explain how a collision experiment measures scattering cross sections for different events, and relates the relevant S-matrix elements, or the scattering amplitudes (onshell T-matrix), to those cross sections. We highly recommend Taylor’s book in this respect. In this volume and the volume that will follow, however, our motivation does not lie in (although discussions can be extended to) the theoretical description of collision experiments. We are mostly interested in applications of scattering theory in few-body physics and effective interactions in few- and many-body physics. Therefore, we consider a method that is having huge success in the theoretical and numerical description of collisions in nuclear physics and quantum chromodynamics, as well as ultracold atomic and condensed matter physics recently. The method allows for an estimation of low-energy scattering parameters and binding energies from exact diagonalisation, in the low-energy sector, of the system’s Hamiltonian, and is originally due to Lüscher [2]. Lacking another term for it, we have decided to simply label this and related methods ‘modern scattering theory’.
Introduction to Integrable Many-Body systems III This is the third part of a three-volume introductory course about integrable systems of interacting bodies. The emphasis is put onto the method of Thermodynamic Bethe ansatz. Two kinds of integrable models are studied. Systems of itinerant electrons, forming a part of Condensed Matter Physics, involve the Hubbard lattice model of electrons with short-ranged one-site interactions (Sect. 20) and the s-d exchange Kondo model (Sect. 21), describing the scattering of conduction electrons on a spin-s impurity. Methods and basic concepts used in Quantum Field Theory are explained on the integrable (1 + 1)-dimensional sine-Gordon model. We start with the classical description of the model in Sect. 22, analyze its finite energy field configurations (soliton, anti-soliton and breathers) and show its classical integrability. The model is quantized by using two schemes: the conformal (Sect. 23) and Lagrangian (Sect. 24) quantizations. The scattering matrix of the sine-Gordon theory is derived at the full quantum level in the bootstrap scheme and is compared to its classical limit in Sect. 25. The parameters of the scattering matrix are related to those of the Lagrangian by calculating the ground-state energy in an applied magnetic field in two ways: Conformal perturbation theory and Thermodynamic Bethe ansatz (Sect. 26). The relation of the sine-Gordon theory to the XXZ Heisenberg model, which provides a complete solution of the sine-Gordon model in a finite volume, is pointed out in Sect. 27. The obtained results are applied in Sect. 28. to the derivation of the exact thermodynamics for the (symmetric) two-component Coulomb gas; this is the first classical two-dimensional fluid with exactly solvable thermodynamics.