Past exam of the advanced quantum theory: path integrals and many-particle physics course of the University of Oxford / 2017 / 1 / a

Put $\beta =(k_{B}T{)}^{-1}$ and label the two spin values in the order $+1,-1$. Assign each bond its Boltzmann weight,The symmetry of the bond energy makes $V$ a real symmetric matrix. For a fixed configuration the product of successive matrix entries is its Boltzmann weight. Summing over all spins and identifying the last index with the first therefore giveswhereThis replaces a sum over $2^L$ configurations by the powers of a two-by-two matrix. For finite bond energies at $T>0$, every matrix entry is positive, so the Perron–Frobenius theorem gives ${\lambda }_{+}>0$ and $|{\lambda }_{-}|<{\lambda }_{+}$. Hence the Helmholtz free energy per spin tends to $-k_{B}T\log {\lambda }_{+}$. A diagonal local observable $O$ can be inserted at one site: $⟨O_1⟩=\mathrm{tr}(O{V}^L)/Z_L$. Its limiting average is the expectation in the normalized eigenvector of ${\lambda }_{+}$.