  The asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP) plays the role of a paradigm
in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics. We review exact results for the ASEP
obtained by Bethe ansatz and put emphasis on the algebraic properties of this
model. The Bethe equations for the eigenvalues of the Markov matrix of the ASEP
are derived from the algebraic Bethe ansatz. Using these equations we explain
how to calculate the spectral gap of the model and how global spectral
properties such as the existence of multiplets can be predicted. An extension
of the Bethe ansatz leads to an analytic expression for the large deviation
function of the current in the ASEP that satisfies the Gallavotti-Cohen
relation. Finally, we describe some variants of the ASEP that are also solvable
by Bethe ansatz.
  Keywords: ASEP, integrable models, Bethe ansatz, large deviations.
