Combinatorial Bethe ansatz and generalized periodic box-ball system

We reformulate the Kerov-Kirillov-Reshetikhin (KKR) map in the combinatorial Bethe ansatz from paths to rigged configurations by introducing local energy distribution in crystal base theory. Combined with an earlier result on the inverse map, it completes the crystal interpretation of the KKR bijection for U_q(\hat{sl}_2). As an application, we solve an integrable cellular automaton, a higher spin generalization of the periodic box-ball system, by an inverse scattering method and obtain the solution of the initial value problem in terms of the ultradiscrete Riemann theta function.