Thermodynamics of the six-vertex model in an L-shaped domain (Q2516216)

The authors study the partition function of the six-vertex model on an \(N \times N\) domain with an \(s \times (s+q)\) rectangle removed from the top-left. This is equivalent to studying what the authors called the emptiness formation probability [Nucl. Phys., B 798, No. 3, 340--362 (2008; Zbl 1234.82007)]. The free energy of this model is given by an explicit formula in the limit \(N,s,q \to \infty\) such that \(x = \lim_{N \to \infty} \frac {s+q}N\) and \(y = \lim_{N \to \infty} \frac {s}N\) exist. They show that the free energy exhibits a third-order phase transition in the \(xy\) plane, where the phase boundary is given by the conjectured arctic curve for alternating sign matrices [the authors, SIAM J. Discrete Math. 24, No. 4, 1558-1571 (2010; Zbl 1223.82011)]. Their main tool is a discrete Coulomb-gas representation of this emptiness formation probability.