  In our recent work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 230502 (2009)] we showed that the
partition function of all classical spin models, including all discrete
standard statistical models and all Abelian discrete lattice gauge theories
(LGTs), can be expressed as a special instance of the partition function of a
4-dimensional pure LGT with gauge group Z_2 (4D Z_2 LGT). This provides a
unification of models with apparently very different features into a single
complete model. The result uses an equality between the Hamilton function of
any classical spin model and the Hamilton function of a model with all possible
k-body Ising-type interactions, for all k, which we also prove. Here, we
elaborate on the proof of the result, and we illustrate it by computing
quantities of a specific model as a function of the partition function of the
4D Z_2 LGT. The result also allows one to establish a new method to compute the
mean-field theory of Z_2 LGTs with d > 3, and to show that computing the
partition function of the 4D Z_2 LGT is computationally hard (#P hard). The
proof uses techniques from quantum information.
