The critical Ising model on a torus with a defect line

Abstract

The critical Ising model in two dimensions with a defect line is analyzed to deliver the first exact solution with twisted boundary conditions. We derive exact expressions for the eigenvalues of the transfer matrix and obtain analytically the partition function and the asymptotic expansions of the free energy and inverse correlation lengths for an infinitely long cylinder of circumference $L_x$. We find that finite-size corrections to scaling are of the form $a_k/L^{2k-1}_x$ for the free energy $f$ and $b_k(p)/L_x^{2k-1}$ and $c_k(p)/L_x^{2k-1}$ for inverse correlation lengths $\xi^{-1}_p$ and $\xi^{-1}_{L-p}$, respectively, with integer values of $k$. By exact evaluation we find that the amplitude ratios $b_k(p)/a_k$ and $c_k(p)/a_k$ are universal and verify this universal behavior using a perturbative conformal approach.