Structure and solution of the massive Thirring model

Abstract

The Hamiltonian of the massive Thirring model is explicitly diagonalized by formulating a Bethe ansatz for the eigenstates. The physical states are described by many-body wave functions representing the vacuum as a filled Fermi-Dirac sea and particle states as excitations built upon it. The spectrum of states is determined by imposing periodic boundary conditions on the wave functions. The energies are calculated by reducing the periodic boundary conditions to linear integral equations. For fermion-antifermion bound states the Dashen-Hasslacher-Neven spectrum is obtained. It is shown that the solution to the massive Thirring model can be understood as the critical limit of Baxter's solution of the eight-vertex model.