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Theoretical physicists working at a blackboard collaboration pod in the Beecroft building.
Credit: Jack Hobhouse

Dr Sascha Gehrmann

Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA)

Sub department

  • Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics
sascha.gehrmann@physics.ox.ac.uk
Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics, room 70.24
  • About
  • Publications

XYZ Integrability the Easy Way

Journal of Statistical Physics Springer Science and Business Media LLC 193:7 (2026) 79

Authors:

Paul Fendley, Sascha Gehrmann, Eric Vernier, Frank Verstraete

Abstract:

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p> Sutherland showed that the XYZ quantum spin-chain Hamiltonian commutes with the eight-vertex model transfer matrix, so that Baxter’s subsequent <jats:italic>tour de force</jats:italic> proves the integrability of both. The proof requires parametrising the Boltzmann weights using elliptic theta functions and showing they satisfy the Yang-Baxter equation. We here give a simpler derivation of the integrability of the XYZ chain by explicitly constructing an extensive sequence of conserved charges from a matrix-product operator. We show that they commute with the XYZ Hamiltonian with periodic boundary conditions or an arbitrary boundary magnetic field. A straightforward generalisation yields impurity interactions that preserve the integrability. Placing such an impurity at the edge gives an integrable generalisation of the Kondo problem with a gapped bulk. We make contact with the traditional approach by relating our matrix-product operator to products of the eight-vertex model transfer matrix. </jats:p>

Quantum-group-invariant D n + 1 2 models: Bethe ansatz and finite-size spectrum

Journal of High Energy Physics Springer 2025:12 (2025) 117

Authors:

Holger Frahm, Sascha Gehrmann, Rafael I Nepomechie, Ana L Retore

Abstract:

We consider the quantum integrable spin chain models associated with the Jimbo R-matrix based on the quantum affine algebra Dn+12, subject to quantum-group-invariant boundary conditions parameterized by two discrete variables p = 0, . . . , n and ε = 0, 1. We develop the analytical Bethe ansatz for the previously unexplored case ε = 1 with any n, and use it to investigate the effects of different boundary conditions on the finite-size spectrum of the quantum spin chain based on the rank-2 algebra D32. Previous work on this model with periodic boundary conditions has shown that it is critical for the range of anisotropy parameters 0 < γ < π/4, where its scaling limit is described by a non-compact CFT with continuous degrees of freedom related to two copies of the 2D black hole sigma model. The scaling limit of the model with quantum-group-invariant boundary conditions depends on the parameter ε: similarly as in the rank-1 D22 chain, we find that the symmetry of the lattice model is spontaneously broken, and the spectrum of conformal weights has both discrete and continuous components, for ε = 1. For p = 1, the latter coincides with that of the D22 chain, which should correspond to a non-compact brane related to one black hole CFT in the presence of boundaries. For ε = 0, the spectrum of conformal weights is purely discrete.

Finite-size spectrum of the staggered six-vertex model with antidiagonal boundary conditions

Nuclear Physics B 1006 (2024)

Authors:

H Frahm, S Gehrmann

Abstract:

The finite-size spectrum of the critical staggered six-vertex model with antidiagonal boundary conditions is studied. Similar to the case of periodic boundary conditions, we identify three different phases. In two of those, the underlying conformal field theory can be identified to be related to the twisted U(1) Kac-Moody algebra. In contrast, the finite size scaling in the third regime, whose critical behaviour with the (quasi-)periodic BCs is related to the 2d black hole CFTs possessing a non-compact degree of freedom, is more subtle. Here with antidiagonal BCs imposed, the corrections to the scaling of the ground state grow logarithmically with the system size, while the energy gaps appear to close logarithmically. Moreover, we obtain an explicit formula for the Q-operator which is useful for numerical implementation.

The D3(2) spin chain and its finite-size spectrum

Journal of High Energy Physics 2023:11 (2023)

Authors:

H Frahm, S Gehrmann, RI Nepomechie, AL Retore

Abstract:

Using the analytic Bethe ansatz, we initiate a study of the scaling limit of the quasi-periodic D3(2) spin chain. Supported by a detailed symmetry analysis, we determine the effective scaling dimensions of a large class of states in the parameter regime γ ∈ (0, π4). Besides two compact degrees of freedom, we identify two independent continuous components in the finite-size spectrum. The influence of large twist angles on the latter reveals also the presence of discrete states. This allows for a conjecture on the central charge of the conformal field theory describing the scaling limit of the lattice model.

Integrable boundary conditions for staggered vertex models

Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical 56:2 (2023)

Authors:

H Frahm, S Gehrmann

Abstract:

Yang-Baxter integrable vertex models with a generic Z 2 -staggering can be expressed in terms of composite R -matrices given in terms of the elementary R-matrices. Similarly, integrable open boundary conditions can be constructed through generalized reflection algebras based on these objects and their representations in terms of composite boundary matrices K ± . We show that only two types of staggering yield a local Hamiltonian with integrable open boundary conditions in this approach. The staggering in the underlying model allows for a second hierarchy of commuting integrals of motion (in addition to the one including the Hamiltonian obtained from the usual transfer matrix), starting with the so-called quasi momentum operator. In this paper, we show that this quasi momentum operator can be obtained together with the Hamiltonian for both periodic and open models in a unified way from enlarged Yang-Baxter or reflection algebras in the composite picture. For the special case of the staggered six-vertex model, this allows constructing an integrable spectral flow between the two local cases.

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