Lax Operator Algebras and Applications to <i>τ</i>-Symmetries for Multilayer Integrable Couplings

The algebraic structures of zero curvature representations are furnished for multilayer integrable couplings associated with matrix spectral problems, both discrete and continuous. The key elements are a class of matrix loop algebras consisting of block matrices with blocks of the same size. As illustrative examples, isospectral and non-isospectral integrable couplings and the corresponding commutator relations of their Lax operators are computed explicitly in the cases of the Volterra lattice hierarchy and the AKNS hierarchy, along with their τ-symmetry algebras