Isoperiodic deformations of the acoustic operator and periodic solutions of the Harry Dym equation (Q2480100)

The author of this interesting paper considers the possible spectra of an acoustic operator \[ L_A=-r^2(x){d^2\over dx^2} \] with a periodic finite-gap density. The function \(r(x)\), called the density, is smooth and positive. Finite-gap densities of the acoustic operator and the corresponding periodic solutions of the Harry Dym equation \(r_t=r^3r_{xxx}\) have been studied by L. A. Dimitrieva (1993). It turns out that finite-gap periodic densities of the acoustic operator are equivalent to \(x\)-periodic solutions of the Harry Dym equation. Here the author establishes a spectral theory for the acoustic operator by relating it to the Schrödinger operator \[ L_S=-{d^2\over dy^2}+u(y), \] where the function \(u(y)\) is a periodic potential that determines a Riemann surface, called the spectral curve. Having in mind this he constructs the isoperiodic deformation for the acoustic operator. There exist flows on the moduli space of algebraic Riemann surfaces preserving the periods of the corresponding operator. It turns out that by a suitable extension of the phase space, the equations under consideration can be written in quadratic irrationalities. The main result is that there exists an explicit form of the deformation equations.