Spectral self-similarity, one-dimensional Ising chains and random matrices Original Research Article

Partition functions of one-dimensional Ising chains with specific long distance exchange between N spins are connected to the N-soliton τ-functions of the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) and B-type Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (BKP) integrable equations. The condition of translational invariance of the spin lattice selects infinite-soliton solutions with soliton amplitudes forming a number of geometric progressions. The KdV equation generates a spin chain with exponentially decaying antiferromagnetic exchange. The BKP case is richer. It comprises both ferromagnets and anti ferromagnets and, as a special case, includes an exchange decaying as 1/(i − j)2 for large |i − j|. The corresponding partition functions are calculated exactly for a homogeneous magnetic field and some fixed values of the temperature. The connection between these Ising chains and random matrix models is considered as well. A short account of the basic ideas underlying the present work has been published in JETP Lett. 66 (1997) 789.