The Hamilton property of stationary and inverse equations of condensed matter mechanics and mathematical physics (Q810758)

This paper deals with the situation where one has a system of partial differential evolution equations with evolution parameter t and spatial variables x,y etc. possessing a Hamiltonian structure. Such a system is also assumed to admit an integral generating as symmetry vector field the derivative with respect to, say, x. Such systems are exemplified by the Korteweg-de Vries equation and the equations of motion of a two- dimensional ideal fluid. The author shows that if one rewrites these equations as though x played the rôle of t, and t the rôle of x (the ``inverse'' system), then one has again a Hamiltonian system but with ``time'' x, and this is a general property of the systems under consideration. This generalises easier work by other authors, such as [\textit{S. P. Novikov}, Funkts. Anal. Prilozh. 8, 54-66 (1974; Zbl 0299.35017)]. A question which arises is that of the locality of the Hamiltonian structure of the inverse system. The author undertakes the calculation explicitly in the case of the KdV for both its local Hamiltonian structures. Both give local Poisson brackets of hydrodynamic type, one with a degenerate, the other a nondegenerate metric. He also discusses a nonlocal case, the two-dimensional barotropic fluid, which has the incompressible flow as a reduction. He gives the Poisson brackets for the inverse system, which are local and of hydrodynamic type.