The 8-vertex model and the XYZ spin chain have been found to emerge from gauge theories in various ways, such as 4d and 2d Nekrasov-Shatashvili correspondences, the action of surface operators on the supersymmetric indices of class-Sk theories, and correlators of line operators in 4d Chern-Simons theory. I will explain how string theory unifies these phenomena.
This is based on my work with Kevin Costello [arXiv:1810.01970].
Vasily Pestun