Matrix Product Eigenstates for One-Dimensional Stochastic Models and Quantum Spin Chains

We show that all zero energy eigenstates of an arbitrary $m$--state quantum spin chain Hamiltonian with nearest neighbor interaction in the bulk and single site boundary terms, which can also describe the dynamics of stochastic models, can be written as matrix product states. This means that the weights in these states can be expressed as expectation values in a Fock representation of an algebra generated by $2m$ operators fulfilling $m^2$ quadratic relations which are defined by the Hamiltonian.