On the moduli space of deformations of bi-Hamiltonian hierarchies of hydrodynamic type (Q944323)

Integrability of a differential equation manifests itself in a set of properties, one of which is the existence of a bi-Hamiltonian structure. This means that the system can be written in Hamiltonian form in two distinct ways with respect to compatible Poisson brackets, permitting the construction of an infinite integrable hierarchy of differential equations containing the original equation. This in turn gives a method of generating infinitely many symmetries and conservation laws. In this article the authors analyze bi-Hamiltonian deformations of integrable hierarchies and their bi-Hamiltonian structures that are related to generalizations of the Witten conjecture. The space of infinitesimal symmetries of the bi-Hamiltonian structure of the dispersionless KdV hierarchy is determined and it is proved that all bi-Hamiltonian deformations of this structure are quasi-trivial. These results are obtained by calculating the corresponding cohomology groups.