Bäcklund transformations and Darboux integrability, revisited (Q2159349)

The author generalizes previous results published by \textit{J. N. Clelland} [Asian J. Math. 13, No. 1, 15--64 (2009; Zbl 1191.37038)], wherein it was shown that any second-order hyperbolic Monge-Ampère equation in the plane linked to the wave equation by a Bäcklund transformation with \(1\)-dimensional fibers is Darboux-integrable after one prolongation. In addition to providing a shorter proof of this earlier result, the author extends these ideas to pairs of decomposable systems of arbitrary type \([p,q]\) linked by a Bäcklund transformation. In particular, when one system is Darboux-integrable, he derives lower bounds on the number of independent Darboux invariants for the prolongation of the second system. A corollary of this result is that for pairs of hyperbolic exterior differential systems linked by a Bäcklund transformation with \(1\)-dimensional fibers, if one system is Darboux-integrable and the second contains no closed \(1\)-forms, then the second system is Darboux-integrable after one prolongation.