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Exceptional structure of the dilute A$_3$ model: E$_8$ and E$_7$ Rogers--Ramanujan identities

The dilute A$_3$ lattice model in regime 2 is in the universality class of the Ising model in a magnetic field. Here we establish directly the existence of an E$_8$ structure in the dilute A$_3$ model in this regime by expressing the 1-dimensional configuration sums in terms of fermionic sums which explicitly involve the E$_8$ root system. In the thermodynamic limit, these polynomial identities yield a proof of the E$_8$ Rogers--Ramanujan identity recently conjectured by Kedem {\em et al}. The polynomial identities also apply to regime 3, which is obtained by transforming the modular parameter by $q\to 1/q$. In this case we find an A$_1\times\mbox{E}_7$ structure and prove a Rogers--Ramanujan identity of A$_1\times\mbox{E}_7$ type. Finally, in the critical $q\to 1$ limit, we give some intriguing expressions for the number of $L$-step paths on the A$_3$ Dynkin diagram with tadpoles in terms of the E$_8$ Cartan matrix. All our findings confirm the E$_8$ and E$_7$ structure of the dilute A$_3$ model found recently by means of the thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz.