Integrable nonlinear evolution partial differential equations in 4 + 2 and 3 + 1 dimensions.
The derivation and solution of integrable nonlinear evolution partial differential equations in three spatial dimensions has been the holy grail in the field of integrability since the late 1970s. The celebrated Korteweg-de Vries and nonlinear Schrödinger equations, as well as the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (KP) and Davey-Stewartson (DS) equations, are prototypical examples of integrable evolution equations in one and two spatial dimensions, respectively. Do there exist integrable analogs of these equations in three spatial dimensions? In what follows, I present a positive answer to this question. In particular, I first present integrable generalizations of the KP and DS equations, which are formulated in four spatial dimensions and which have the novelty that they involve complex time. I then impose the requirement of real time, which implies a reduction to three spatial dimensions. I also present a method of solution.
Fokas
A S
AS
Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge, UK. t.fokas@damtp.cam.ac.uk