Spectrum of the biquadratic spin-1 antiferromagnetic chain

An exact correspondence between the staggered biquadratic spin-1 antiferromagnetic chain and the quantum Hamiltonian limit of the nine-state Potts model is established for finite chains with free ends. For uniform interactions this equivalence is used (via a further exact mapping to a Bethe ansatz soluble XXZ model) to calculate exactly the infinite lattice values of the ground-state energy per site and the (nonzero) gap to the lowest-energy excited state. Periodic boundary conditions and the nature of the ground state as a function of bond alternation are also discussed.