Pfaffian bundles and the Ising model (Q912441)

Although the results are fuzzy (preliminary as the author writes), the paper contains exciting ideas (partly due to Witten) as to how to simplify the transfer matrix formalism of statistical physics. The main tools are isotropic infinite orthogonal Grassmannians. The Pfaffian from the title of the paper is the square root of the determinant of a skewsymmetric matrix. This indicates its relation with determinant bundles and with finite difference operators - for an infinite skewsymmetric matrix; both are clearly explained. Advantages of the language of Pfaffian bundles, that is to say the spinor bundle over the variety of transfer matrices: it makes some symmetries of transfer matrix formalism manifest, dependence on Boltzmann parameters is simpler, etc.