Rational recursion operators for integrable differential-difference equations (Q2323518)

The main aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of pre-Hamiltonian pairs of difference operators, demonstrate their connections with Nijenhuis operators and give a criterium for the existence of weakly nonlocal inverse recursion operators for differential-difference equations. The authors begin with a rigorous setup of the problem in terms of the skew field of rational (pseudo-difference) operators over a difference field with a zero characteristic subfield of constants and the principal ideal ring of matrix rational (pseudo-difference) operators. In particular, they give a criterium for a rational operator to be weakly nonlocal. A difference operator is called pre-Hamiltonian, if its image is a Lie subalgebra with respect to the Lie bracket on the difference field. Two pre-Hamiltonian operators form a pre-Hamiltonian pair if any linear combination of them is pre-Hamiltonian. The authors show that a pre-Hamiltonian pair naturally leads to a Nijenhuis operator, and a Nijenhuis operator can be represented in terms of a pre-Hamiltonian pair. This provides a systematic method to check whether a rational operator is of Nijenhuis type. As an application, a pre-Hamiltonian pair is constructed and thus a Nijenhuis recursion operator for the differential-difference equation recently discovered by \textit{V. E. Adler} and \textit{V. V. Postnikov} [J. Phys. A, Math. Theor. 44, No. 41, Article ID 415203, 17 p. (2011; Zbl 1230.34013)] is given. The obtained Nijenhuis operator is not weakly nonlocal. They prove that it generates an infinite hierarchy of local commuting symmetries. The authors also illustrate their theory on well-known examples, including the Toda, the Ablowitz-Ladik, and the Kaup-Newell differential-difference equations.