Heat kernel expansions on the integers and the Toda lattice hierarchy (Q2481737)

The author considers heat kernel expansions on the integers and the Toda lattice hierarchy for the heat equation \(u_{t}=Lu\) where \(L\) is a second-order difference operator in a discrete variable \(n\). The fundamental solution has an expansion in terms of the Bessel functions of imaginary argument. The coefficients \(\alpha_{k}(n,m)\) in this expansion are analogs of Hadamard's coefficients for the (continuous) Schrödinger operator. The author derives an explicit formula for \(\alpha_{k}\) in terms of the wave and the adjoint wave functions of the Toda lattice hierarchy. As a first application of this result, the author prove that the values of these coefficients on the diagonals \(n=m\) and \(n=m+1\) define a hierarchy of differential-difference equations which is equivalent to the Toda lattice hierarchy. Using this fact and the correspondence between commutative rings of difference operators and algebraic curves the author shows that the fundamental solution can be summed up, giving a finite formula involving only two Bessel functions with polynomial coefficients in the time variable \(t\), if and only if the operator \(L\) belongs to the family of bispectral operators constructed by \textit{L. Haine} and the author [J. Phys. A, Math. Gen. 34, No.~11, 2445--2457 (2001; Zbl 0974.33011)].