Integrable structure of the Dirichlet boundary problem in multiply-connected domains (Q2571255)

In this remarkable article, the authors consider the Dirichlet boundary value problem in planar multiply-connected domains and study how the solution depends on small deformation of boundaries of the holes. The problem possesses a hidden integrable structure: the variation of a solution of the Dirichlet problem was described by an infinite hierarchy of nonlinear partial differential equations [cf. \textit{A. Marshakov}, \textit{P. Wiegmann} and \textit{A. Zabrodin}, Commun. Math. Phys. 227, 131--153 (2002; Zbl 1065.37048)] in the simply connected case. Additional technical difficulties appearing in the multiply-connected case (the moduli spaces, multivalued functions) are thorougly discussed here. As a result, the solution of the Dirichlet problem is given through a quasiclassical tau-functions \(F\) which describes small deformations as functions of an infinite set of the deformation parameters, the harmonic moments of the domain. An infinite hierarchy of dispersionless Hirota-like equations on \(F\) is derived from the properties of the Green function and the Fay identities.