Poisson quasi-Nijenhuis manifolds and the Toda system (Q2007023)

This paper discusses the relevance of Poisson quasi-Nijenhuis (PqN) manifolds in the theory of finite-dimensional integrable systems. Such manifolds are a generalization of Poisson-Nijenhuis (PN) manifolds that consist of Poisson manifolds \((\mathcal{M},\pi)\) with a tensor field \(N : T\mathcal{M} \rightarrow T\mathcal{M}\) of type \((1,1)\) which is torsion-free and compatible with the Poisson tensor \(\pi\). PN manifolds turn out to be bi-Hamiltonian manifolds where the traces of the powers of \(N\) satisfy the Lenard-Magri relations. The concept of a Poisson quasi-Nijenhuis manifold was introduced in [\textit{M. Stiénon} and \textit{P. Xu}, Commun. Math. Phys. 270, No. 3, 709--725 (2007; Zbl 1119.53056)]. It is defined as a tuple \((\mathcal{M}, \pi, N, \phi)\) such that the Poisson bivector \(\pi: T^*\mathcal{M} \rightarrow T\mathcal{M}\) and the \((1,1)\)-tensor field are compatible, the 3-forms \(\phi\) and \(i_N \phi\) are closed and \(T_N(X,Y) = \pi(i_{X \wedge Y} \phi)\) for all vector fields \(X\) and \(Y\), where \(i_{X \wedge Y} \phi\) is the 1-form defined by \(\langle i_{X \wedge Y} \phi, Z \rangle = \phi (X,Y,Z)\). If \(\phi = 0\), then the torsion of \(N\) vanishes, and \(\mathcal{M}\) becomes a regular Poisson-Nijenhuis manifold. The authors of the cited reference suggested that PqN structures might find applications in the study of integrable systems. In this paper the authors follow up on that suggestion by considering the case of PqN manifolds that are obtained by deforming a PN manifold \((\mathcal{M}, \pi, N)\) using a 2-form \(\Omega\), and identifying compatibility conditions between \(\pi\), \(N\), and \(\Omega\), guaranteeing that the traces \(I_k\) of the powers of \(N\) are in involution. The authors then consider the closed Toda lattice and interpret its integrability in the context of their PqN formulation and show that its integrals of motion are traces of a certain \((1,1)\) tensor field \(\hat{N}\). This \(\hat{N}\) turns out to be a deformation of the recursion operator \(N\) of the open Toda system and gives the phase space the structure of a PqN manifold with involution.