Introduction to the Statistical Physics of Integrable Many-body Systems

Including topics not traditionally covered in literature, such as (1+1)-dimensional QFT and classical 2D Coulomb gases, this book considers a wide range of models and demonstrates a number of situations to which they can be applied. Beginning with a treatise of nonrelativistic 1D continuum Fermi and Bose quantum gases of identical spinless particles, the book describes the quantum inverse scattering method and the analysis of the related Yang–Baxter equation and integrable quantum Heisenberg models. It also discusses systems within condensed matter physics, the complete solution of the sine-Gordon model and modern trends in the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz. Each chapter concludes with problems and solutions to help consolidate the reader's understanding of the theory and its applications. Basic knowledge of quantum mechanics and equilibrium statistical physics is assumed, making this book suitable for graduate students and researchers in statistical physics, quantum mechanics and mathematical and theoretical physics.

Ladislav Šamaj is a Research Professor within the Institute of Physics at the Slovak Academy of Sciences and teaches statistical mechanics of integrable many-body systems at the Institute of Physics and the Comenius University in Bratislava. His research specialises in Coulomb fluids, classical and quantum, two-dimensional and higher-dimensional. He contributed to the field of equilibrium statistical mechanics by solving exactly the two-dimensional Coulomb gas, charge-symmetric and with a charge asymmetry.

Zoltán Bajnok is a Research Professor at the MTA Lendület Holographic QFT Group of the Wigner Research Centre for Physics in Budapest, where he specialises in integrable models with a focus on finite size effects. He contributed to the analysis of the exact spectrum of the boundary sine-Gordon theory, and successfully applied the developed 2D integrable techniques to calculate the scaling dimensions of gauge invariant operators in four-dimensional quantum field theories.