The spectrum of a transfer matrix for loops

Abstract

We study the spectral properties of the transfer matrix for a gonihedric random surface model on a three-dimensional lattice. The transfer matrix is indexed by generalized loops in a natural fashion and is invariant under a group of motions in loop-space. The eigenvalues of the transfer matrix can be evaluated exactly in terms of the partition function, the internal energy and the correlation functions of the two-dimensional Ising model and the corresponding eigenfunctions are explicit functions on loop-space.