A direct calculation of the free energy from the Bethe ansatz equation   for the Heisenberg model
  Thermodynamics of the XXX Heisenberg model is studied. The trace of the Boltzmann weight with respect to the Hilbert space is taken in the thermodynamic limit with the number of up-spins being fixed. The expression of the trace gives an explanation why the correct thermodynamic quantities are derived from the string hypothesis. Combining this with the previous result, we conclude that the free energy can be calculated only by assuming the Bethe ansatz equation. The method is more direct than other known methods which were used to derive the free energy. 
Go Kato, Miki Wadati