The exact solution of an integrable anisotropic Heisenberg spin chain with nearest-neighbor, next-nearest-neighbor and scalar chirality couplings is studied, where the boundary condition is the antiperiodic one. The detailed construction of Hamiltonian and the proof of integrability are given. The antiperiodic boundary condition breaks the U(1)-symmetry of the system and we use the off-diagonal Bethe Ansatz to solve it. The energy spectrum is characterized by the inhomogeneous T−Q relations and the contribution of the inhomogeneous term is studied. The ground state energy and the twisted boundary energy in different regions are obtained. We also find that the Bethe roots at the ground state form the string structure if the coupling constant J=−1 although the Bethe Ansatz equations are the inhomogeneous ones.
The spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain coupled to a spin-S impurity moment with anti-periodic boundary condition is studied via the off-diagonal Bethe ansatz method. The twisted boundary breaks the U(1) symmetry of the system, which leads to that the spin ring with impurity can not be solved by the conventional Bethe ansatz methods. By combining the properties of the R-matrix, the transfer matrix, and the quantum determinant, we derive the T–Q relation and the corresponding Bethe ansatz equations. The residual magnetizations of the ground states and the impurity specific heat are investigated. It is found that the residual magnetizations in this model strongly depend on the constraint of the topological boundary condition, the inhomogeneity of the impurity comparing with the hosts could depress the impurity specific heat in the thermodynamic limit. This method can be expand to other integrable impurity models without U(1) symmetry.