Spin chains with exact supersymmetry on finite one-dimensional lattices are considered. The supercharges are nilpotent operators on the lattice of dynamical nature: they change the number of sites. A local criterion for the nilpotency on periodic lattices is formulated. Any of its solutions leads to a supersymmetric spin chain. It is shown that a class of special solutions at arbitrary spin gives the lattice equivalents of the N = (2, 2) superconformal minimal models. The case of spin one is investigated in detail: in particular, it is shown that the Fateev-Zamolodchikov chain and its off-critical extension possess a lattice supersymmetry for all its coupling constants. Its supersymmetry singlets are thoroughly analysed, and a relation between their components and the weighted enumeration of alternating sign matrices is conjectured.

We study the time evolution of quantum one-dimensional gapless systems evolving from initial states with a domain-wall. We generalize the path-integral imaginary time approach that together with boundary conformal field theory allows to derive the time and space dependence of general correlation functions. The latter are explicitly obtained for the Ising universality class, and the typical behavior of one-and two-point functions is derived for the general case. Possible connections with the stochastic Loewner evolution are discussed and explicit results for one-point time dependent averages are obtained for generic κ for boundary conditions corresponding to SLE. We use this set of results to predict the time evolution of the entanglement entropy and obtain the universal constant shift due to the presence of a domain wall in the initial state.

The quantum spin 1/2 XXZ chain with anisotropy parameter ∆ = −1/2 possesses a dynamic supersymmetry on the lattice. This supersymmetry and a generalisation to higher spin are investigated in the case of open spin chains. A family of nondiagonal boundary interactions that are compatible with the lattice supersymmetry and depend on several parameters is constructed. The cohomology of the corresponding supercharges is explicitly computed as a function of the parameters and the length of the chain. For certain specific values of the parameters, this cohomology is shown to be non-trivial. This implies that the spin-chain ground states are supersymmetry singlets. Special scalar products involving an arbitrary number of these supersymmetry singlets for chains of different lengths are exactly computed. As a physical application, the logarithmic bipartite fidelity of the open quantum spin 1/2 XXZ chain with ∆ = −1/2 and special diagonal boundary interactions is determined.

We conjecture exact and simple formulas for some physical quantities in two quantum chains. A classic result of this type is Onsager, Kaufman and Yang's formula for the spontaneous magnetization in the Ising model, subsequently generalized to the chiral Potts models. We conjecture that analogous results occur in the XYZ chain when the couplings obey J x J y +J y J z +J x J z = 0, and in a related fermion chain with strong interactions and supersymmetry. We find exact formulas for the magnetization and gap in the former, and the staggered density in the latter, by exploiting the fact that certain quantities are independent of finite-size effects.

We show that the XYZ spin chain along the special line of couplings JxJy + JxJz + JyJz = 0 possesses a hidden N = (2, 2) supersymmetry. This lattice supersymmetry is non-local and changes the number of sites. It extends to the full transfer matrix of the corresponding eight-vertex model. In particular, it is shown how to derive the supercharges from Baxter's Bethe ansatz. This analysis leads to new conjectures concerning the ground state for chains of odd length. We also discuss a correspondence between the spectrum of this XYZ chain and that of a manifestly supersymmetric staggered fermion chain.