Lectures on classical \(W\)-algebras (Q1363133)

The paper consists of seven lectures on properties of classical \(W\)-algebras and their link with the conformal field theory, the string theory and the theory of integrable systems. The first lecture is a survey of the Hamiltonian theory of the generalized Korteweg-de Vries hierarchies. The second lecture contains three different proofs of the central theorem on Hamiltonian structures for integrable nonlinear differential equations. The third lecture is devoted to the theory of \(W\)-algebras themselves considered as the second Poisson structures of integrable equations. Embedding of all Korteweg-de Vries hierarchies along with their Hamiltonian structures into one hierarchy by Kadomtsev-Petviashvili is described in the fourth lecture. In the fifth lecture the author introduces the Baker-Akhiezer function, the \(\tau\)-function and discusses their connection to representation theory, theory of matrix models, etc. The sixth lecture contains a discussion of the additional symmetries, the string equation and the \(W_{\infty}\)-algebra. The constrained Kadomtsev-Petviashvili hierarchies and appropriate Poisson structures are studied in the last lecture.