Classifying integrable spin-1/2 chains with nearest neighbour interactions

Abstract

We classify all fundamental integrable spin chains with two-dimensional local Hilbert space which have regular R-matrices of difference form. This means that the R-matrix underlying the integrable structures is of the form R(u,v)=R(u-v) and reduces to the permutation operator at some particular point. We find a total of 14 independent solutions, 8 of which correspond to well-known eight or lower vertex models. The remaining 6 models appear to be new and some have peculiar properties such as not being diagonalizable or being nilpotent. Furthermore, for even R-matrices, we find a bijection between solutions of the Yang-Baxter equation and the graded Yang-Baxter equation which extends our results to the graded two-dimensional case.