“…The factorisation formula of the Lax matrices entering the definition of the infinite-dimensional transfer matrices into the product of two degenerate Lax matrices used to construct Baxter Q-operators was initially proposed in [BLZ] for U q ( sl 2 ), see also [KT]. The degenerate Lax matrices (solutions of (1.1) with the degenerate coefficient of the leading term, which are no longer connected to quantum groups) employed in this factorisation have a long history, going back to [IK, KSS] and their relation to Q-operators [AF, BLZ, RW, Kor, BLMS], and for higher rank cases [BHK,BT,BGKNR,BFLMS,Ts2], while cases beyond A-type were first found in [Fr, CGY, FT].…”