Closed extended \(r\)-spin theory and the Gelfand-Dickey wave function (Q2633472)

The aim of this paper is to study a generalization of genus-zero $r$-spin theory in which exactly one insertion has a twist-1. The authors claim that this theory is closely related to the open $r$-spin theory of Riemann surfaces with boundary. They prove that the generating function of genus-zero closed extended intersection numbers coincides with the genus-zero part of a special solution to the system of differential equations for the wave function of the $r$-th Gelfand-Dickey hierarchy. \par The paper is organized as follows: the first section is an introduction to the subject. In the second section the authors recall the relevant background material on closed nonextended $r$-spin theory. In the third section, the authors generalize the definitions to closed extended $r$-spin theory, prove the topological recursion relations and calculate the two correlators that form the initial conditions for a potential (a genus-zero generating function). Section 4 is devoted to a detailed analysis of the integrable hierarchy, which allows the authors to state and to prove the main results of the paper. Finally, in Section 5 the authors explain the correspondence between the closed extended and the open $r$-spin theory.