THE ABUNDANT SYMMETRY STRUCTURE OF HIERARCHIES OF NONLINEAR EQUATIONS OBTAINED BY RECIPROCAL LINKS

Explicit computation for a Kawamoto-type equation shows that there is a rich associated symmetry structure for four separate hierarchies of nonlinear integrodifferential equations. Contrary to the general belief that symmetry groups for nonlinear evolution equations in 1 + 1 dimensions have to be Abelian, it is shown that, in this case, the symmetry group is noncommutative. Its semisimple part is isomorphic to the affine Lie algebra A1(1) associated to s1(2,ℂ). In two of the additional hierarchies that were found, an explicit dependence of the independent variable occurs. Surprisingly, the generic invariance for the Kawamoto-type equation obtained in Rogers and Carillo [Phys. Scr. 36, 865 (1987)] via a reciprocal link to the Möbius invariance of the singularity equation of the Kaup-Kupershmidt (KK) equation only holds for one of the additional hierarchies of symmetry groups. Thus the generic invariance is not a universal property for the complete symmetry group of equations obtained by reciprocal links. In addition to these results, the bi-Hamiltonian formulation of the hierarchy is given. A direct Bäcklund transformation between the (KK) hierarchy and the hierarchy of singularity equation for the Caudrey-Dodd-Gibbon-Sawada-Kotera equation is exhibited: This shows that the abundant symmetry structure found for the Kawamoto equation must exist for all fifth-order equations, which are known to be completely integrable since these equations are connected either by Bäcklund transformations or reciprocal links. It is shown that similar results must hold for all hierarchies emerging out of singularity hierarchies via reciprocal links. Furthermore, general aspects of the results are discussed. © 1989 American Institute of Physics