Integrable light-cone lattice discretizations from the universal R-matrix

Our goal is to develop a more general scheme for constructing integrable lattice regularisations of integrable quantum field theories. Considering the affine Toda theories as examples, we show how to construct such lattice regularisations using the representation theory of quantum affine algebras. This requires us to clarify in particular the relations between the light-cone approach to integrable lattice models and the representation theory of quantum affine algebras. Both are found to be related in a very natural way, suggesting a general scheme for the construction of generalised Baxter Q-operators. One of the main difficulties we need to deal with is coming from the infinite-dimensionality of the relevant families of representations. It is handled by means of suitable renormalisation prescriptions defining what may be called the modular double of quantum affine algebras. This framework allows us to give a representation-theoretic proof of finite-difference equations generalising the Baxter equation.