Tau functions as Widom constants (Q1720196)

The tau functions are specific functions of time, constructed from sections of a determinant bundle on an infinite-dimensional Grassmannian manifold. These functions generalize the Riemann theta functions and they are solutions of the KP hierarchy, i.e., solutions of an infinite series of nonlinear partial differential equations connecting infinity of functions of infinity variables. The tau functions can be Schur polynomials, falling within Fredholm's group representation theory. \par Recently, a new type of tau function has appeared, within the framework of quantum gauge theory with gauge group SU$(n)$ when $n$ is large. This led to the so-called matrix models for counting triangulations on certain surfaces. The first tau functions were introduced by \textit{Y. Sato} [North-Holland Math. Stud. 81, 259-271 (1983; Zbl 0528.58020)] and \textit{M. Jimbo} et al. [Physica D 2, No. 2, 306--352 (1981; Zbl 1194.34167)] in relation to the theory of isomonodromic deformations. Tau functions were defined there as correlation functions of certain quantum fields associated with the poles of a Fuchsian system on the Riemann sphere. These functions give information on the topology of moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces and are closely related to the theory of representations of Virasoro algebras and W-algebras. \par In this paper, the authors define a tau function for a generic Riemann-Hilbert problem posed on a union of nonintersecting smooth closed curves with jump matrices analytic in their neighborhood. The tau function depends on parameters of the jumps and is expressed as the Fredholm determinant of an integral operator with block integrable kernel constructed in terms of elementary parameters. Its logarithmic derivatives with respect to parameters are given by contour integrals involving these parameters and the solution of the Riemann-Hilbert problem. In the case of one circle, the tau function coincides with Widom's determinant arising in the asymptotics of block Toeplitz matrices. Their construction gives the Jimbo-Miwa-Ueno tau function for Riemann-Hilbert problems of isomonodromic origin (Painlevé VI, V, III, Garnier system, etc.) and the Sato-Segal-Wilson tau function for integrable hierarchies (Gelfand-Dickey, Drinfeld-Sokolov hierarchies).