String Theory and Quantum Spin Chains

The space-time light-cone Hamiltonian P^- of large-N matrix models for dynamical triangulations may be viewed as that of a quantum spin chain and analysed in a mean field approximation. As N -> infinity, the properties of the groundstate as a function of the bare worldsheet cosmological constant exhibit a parton phase and a critical string phase, separated by a transition with non-trivial scaling at which P- -> -infinity.