Towards the solution of an integrable $D_2^{(2)}$ spin chain

Abstract

Two branches of integrable open quantum-group invariant $D_{n+1}^{(2)}$ quantum spin chains are known. For one branch (epsilon=0), a complete Bethe ansatz solution has been proposed. However, the other branch (epsilon=1) has so far resisted solution. In an effort to address this problem, we consider here the simplest case n=1. We propose a Bethe ansatz solution, which however is not complete, as it describes only the transfer-matrix eigenvalues with odd degeneracy. We also consider a proposal for the missing eigenvalues.