We summarize some recent connections between a class of nonlinear integral equations related to the thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz and a class of linear integral equations related to the Painlevé equations.
We derive traditional thermodynamic Bethe ansatz (TBA) equations for the sl ( r + 1) Uimin–Sutherland model from the T -system of the quantum transfer matrix. These TBA equations are identical to the those from the string hypothesis. Next we derive a new family of nonlinear integral equations (NLIEs). In particular, a subset of these NLIEs forms a system of NLIEs which contains only a finite number of unknown functions. For r = 1, this subset of NLIEs reduces to Takahashi's NLIE for the XXX spin chain. A relation between the traditional TBA equations and our new NLIEs is clarified. Based on our new NLIEs, we also calculate the high-temperature expansion of the free energy.
The thermodynamic Bethe ansatz (TBA) and the excited state TBA equations for an integrable spin chain related to the Lie superalgebra osp (1|2) are proposed by the quantum transfer matrix (QTM) method. We introduce the fusion hierarchy of the QTM and derive the functional relations among them (T-system) and their certain combinations (Y-system). Their analytical property leads to the nonlinear integral equations which describe the free energy and the correlation length at any finite temperatures. With regard to the free energy, they coincide with the TBA equation based on the string hypothesis.