In
mathematics, a quantum affine algebra (or affine quantum group) is a
Hopf algebra that is a ''q''-deformation of the
universal enveloping algebra
In mathematics, the universal enveloping algebra of a Lie algebra is the unital associative algebra whose representations correspond precisely to the representations of that Lie algebra.
Universal enveloping algebras are used in the represent ...
of an
affine Lie algebra In mathematics, an affine Lie algebra is an infinite-dimensional Lie algebra that is constructed in a canonical fashion out of a finite-dimensional simple Lie algebra. Given an affine Lie algebra, one can also form the associated affine Kac-Moody a ...
. They were introduced independently by and as a special case of their general construction of a
quantum group
In mathematics and theoretical physics, the term quantum group denotes one of a few different kinds of noncommutative algebras with additional structure. These include Drinfeld–Jimbo type quantum groups (which are quasitriangular Hopf algebra ...
from a
Cartan matrix In mathematics, the term Cartan matrix has three meanings. All of these are named after the French mathematician Élie Cartan. Amusingly, the Cartan matrices in the context of Lie algebras were first investigated by Wilhelm Killing, whereas the Ki ...
. One of their principal applications has been to the theory of
solvable lattice models in
quantum statistical mechanics
Quantum statistical mechanics is statistical mechanics applied to quantum mechanical systems. In quantum mechanics a statistical ensemble (probability distribution over possible quantum states) is described by a density operator ''S'', which is ...
, where the
Yang–Baxter equation
In physics, the Yang–Baxter equation (or star–triangle relation) is a consistency equation which was first introduced in the field of statistical mechanics. It depends on the idea that in some scattering situations, particles may preserve the ...
occurs with a
spectral parameter. Combinatorial aspects of the representation theory of quantum affine algebras can be described simply using
crystal bases, which correspond to the degenerate case when the deformation parameter ''q'' vanishes and the
Hamiltonian
Hamiltonian may refer to:
* Hamiltonian mechanics, a function that represents the total energy of a system
* Hamiltonian (quantum mechanics), an operator corresponding to the total energy of that system
** Dyall Hamiltonian, a modified Hamiltonian ...
of the associated lattice model can be explicitly diagonalized.
See also
*
Quantum enveloping algebra In mathematics, a quantum or quantized enveloping algebra is a ''q''-analog of a universal enveloping algebra. Given a Lie algebra \mathfrak, the quantum enveloping algebra is typically denoted as U_q(\mathfrak). The notation was introduced by Drin ...
*
Quantum KZ equations
In mathematical physics, the quantum KZ equations or quantum Knizhnik–Zamolodchikov equations or qKZ equations are the analogue for quantum affine algebras of the Knizhnik–Zamolodchikov equations for affine Kac–Moody algebras. They are a co ...
*
Littelmann path model
In mathematics, the Littelmann path model is a combinatorial device due to Peter Littelmann for computing multiplicities ''without overcounting'' in the representation theory of symmetrisable Kac–Moody algebras. Its most important application ...
*
Yangian In representation theory, a Yangian is an infinite-dimensional Hopf algebra, a type of a quantum group. Yangians first appeared in physics in the work of Ludvig Faddeev and his school in the late 1970s and early 1980s concerning the quantum inverse ...
References
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Quantum groups
Representation theory
Exactly solvable models
Mathematical quantization
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