Exact thermodynamics of the Hubbard chain: free energy and correlation lengths Original Research Article

We study the one-dimensional Hubbard model at finite temperatures in the quantum transfer matrix approach. The eigenvalue equations of this matrix are obtained by a nested Bethe ansatz. The largest and next-largest eigenvalues yield the free energy as well as the correlation lengths of the system. An equivalent set of four integral equations is derived from the Bethe ansatz equations. The limit of Trotter-Suzuki number N → ∞ is taken analytically. For half-filling the final equations are studied in the low-temperature limit yielding analytic expressions for the free energy and spin-spin correlation length. Numerical results are presented for intermediate temperatures.