Integrable Structure of Conformal Field Theory, Quantum KdV Theory and Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz

Abstract

We construct the quantum versions of the monodromy matrices of KdV theory. The traces of these quantum monodromy matrices, which will be called as ``${\bf T}$-operators'', act in highest weight Virasoro modules. The ${\bf T}$-operators depend on the spectral parameter $\lambda$ and their expansion around $\lambda = \infty$ generates an infinite set of commuting Hamiltonians of the quantum KdV system. The ${\bf T}$-operators can be viewed as the continuous field theory versions of the commuting transfer-matrices of integrable lattice theory. In particular, we show that for the values $c=1-3{{(2n+1)^2}\over {2n+3}} , n=1,2,3,... $of the Virasoro central charge the eigenvalues of the ${\bf T}$-operators satisfy a closed system of functional equations sufficient for determining the spectrum. For the ground-state eigenvalue these functional equations are equivalent to those of massless Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz for the minimal conformal field theory ${\cal M}_{2,2n+3}$; in general they provide a way to generalize the technique of Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz to the excited states. We discuss a generalization of our approach to the cases of massive field theories obtained by perturbing these Conformal Field Theories with the operator $\Phi_{1,3}$. The relation of these ${\bf T}$-operators to the boundary states is also briefly described.