Transformation groups of soliton equations. IV: A new hierarchy of soliton equations of KP-type (Q1061944)

A new approach to soliton equations, based on \(\tau\)-functions (or Hirota's dependent variables), vertex operators and the Clifford algebra of free fermions, is applied to study a new hierarchy of Kadomtsev- Petviashvili type equations (the BKP hierarchy). The infinite-dimensional orthogonal group acts on the space of BKP \(\tau\)-functions. The Sawada- Kotera equation is obtained as a reduction of BKP. Its infinitesimal transformations constitute the Euclidean Lie algebra \(A_ 2^{(2)}\).