Bethe ansatz for Yangian invariants: Towards super Yang–Mills scattering amplitudes

Abstract

We propose that Baxter's Z -invariant six-vertex model at the rational gl(2) point on a planar but in general not rectangular lattice provides a way to study Yangian invariants. These are identified with eigenfunctions of certain monodromies of an auxiliary inhomogeneous spin chain. As a consequence they are special solutions to the eigenvalue problem of the associated transfer matrix. Excitingly, this allows to construct them using Bethe ansatz techniques. Conceptually, our construction generalizes to general (super) Lie algebras and general representations. Here we present the explicit form of sample invariants for totally symmetric, finite-dimensional representations of gl(n) in terms of oscillator algebras. In particular, we discuss invariants of three- and four-site monodromies that can be understood respectively as intertwiners of the bootstrap and Yang–Baxter equation. We state a set of functional relations significant for these representations of the Yangian and discuss their solutions in terms of Bethe roots. They arrange themselves into exact strings in the complex plane. In addition, it is shown that the sample invariants can be expressed analogously to Graßmannian integrals. This aspect is closely related to a recent on-shell formulation of scattering amplitudes in planar N=4 super Yang–Mills theory.