Bäcklund transformations and singular integral equations (Q1079743)

A systematic method for deriving Bäcklund transformations for singular (linear) integral equations is presented. The method leads in a natural way to the Bäcklund transformations for the corresponding (integrable) nonlinear partial differential equations. By repeated use of the method a hierarchy of singular integral equations and Bäcklund transformations can be derived, corresponding to so-called multi-modified partial differential equations. Specific examples include the Korteweg-de Vries equation and the first, second, and third modified Korteweg-de Vries equation; the nonlinear Schrödinger equation and the anisotropic Heisenberg spin chain; the sine-Gordon equation and the modified sine- Gordon equation.