Lax pair equations and Connes-Kreimer renormalization (Q974681)

Lax pairs are often used to generate solutions to PDEs. Generally speaking, solutions of finite type to a given integrable PDE can be reduced to solving a system of ODEs or alternatively by finding a Birkhoff factorization. (For solutions of infinite type, more likely one must first solve a system of ODEs and then carry out a Birkhoff factorization.) Thinking backwards one could ask: Question 1: Given a Birkhoff factorization, can one construct a Lax pair whose solutions are given by the factorization? Question 2: Given a Lax pair, can one construct a PDE whose solutions are the solutions to the Lax pair? In particle physics, in particular scattering theory, Feynman integrals need to be renormalized. A mathematically rigorous algorithm for this complicated process was given by Bogoliubov-Parasiuk-Hepp-Zimmermann. The Connes-Kreimer theorem proves that this algorithm is given by a Birkhoff factorization. This theorem is proved in the context of non-commutative geometry, in particular inside a Hopf algebra generated by Feynman graphs. The authors answer Question 1 above for this Birkhoff factorization and do much more. We summarize below. Broadly speaking, they give an excellent preliminary investigation into the connection between Connes-Kreimer's factorization and integrable systems. Hence they indirectly connect scattering theory (a common source of Lax pairs!), renormalization, Birkhoff factorizations, Lax pairs, and perhaps later a corresponding PDE. Once the Lax pair flow is determined, the authors ask ``how physical'' the Lax pair flow is. They do this by studying whether some physical property (such as locality) is preserved under the flow. They give cases where this is true. The authors also study the beta function. The beta function in physics is a measure of how the coupling constant depends on the energy. The authors show that the beta function (and something called the beta character) also satisfies a Lax pair. In some sense the beta function is the infinitesimal generator of the 1-parameter renormalization group. The authors study how this renormalization group is affected by the flow generated by the Lax pair. Finally, it is shown that spectral curve techniques fail in at least some examples, and in at least some cases it is shown that the system associated with their Lax pair is completely integrable.