Random-bond Ising model in two dimensions: The Nishimori line and supersymmetry

We consider a classical random-bond Ising model (RBIM) with binary distribution of bonds on the square lattice at finite temperature. In the phase diagram of this model there is the so-called Nishimori line which intersects the phase boundary at a multicritical point. It is known that the correlation functions obey many exact identities on this line. We use a supersymmetry method to treat the disorder. In this approach the transfer matrices of the model on the Nishimori line have an enhanced supersymmetry osp (2n+1|2n), in contrast to the rest of the phase diagram, where the symmetry is osp (2n|2n) (where n is an arbitrary positive integer). An anisotropic limit of the model leads to a one-dimensional quantum Hamiltonian describing a chain of interacting superspins, which are irreducible representations of the osp (2n+1|2n) superalgebra. By generalizing this superspin chain, we embed it into a wider class of models. These include other models that have been studied previously in one and two dimensions. We suggest that the multicritical behavior in two dimensions of a class of these generalized models (possibly not including the multicritical point in the RBIM itself) may be governed by a single fixed point, at which the supersymmetry is enhanced still further to osp (2n+2|2n). This suggestion is supported by a calculation of the renormalization-group flows for the corresponding nonlinear sigma models at weak coupling.