Metastability and the analytic continuation of eigenvalues

Abstract
A metastable analytic continuation of the Ising model free energy is conjectured to follow from certain analyticity properties of the eigenvalues of the transfer matrix. The resulting description of metastability is applicable to any system whose phase transition is associated with eigenvalue degeneracy. Motivation for the conjectures concerning the Ising model is provided by the study of eigenvalue continuation in several simpler systems.