Applied and Interdisciplinary Mathematics Seminar

University of Michigan

Winter 2008
Friday, 25 January, 3:10-4:00pm, 1084 East Hall

Krein Signatures for the Faddeev-Takhtajan Eigenvalue Problem

Jared Bronski

University of Illinois


Abstract

We consider the Faddeev-Takhtajan eigenvalue problem, for which the Sine-Gordon equation is the isospectral flow. Based on some intuition provided by some results of Klaus and Shaw on the Zakharov-Shabat eigenvalue problem, as well as some special exactly solvable potentials constructed by Miller and Buckingham, we are able to prove under certain monotonicity assumptions the point spectrum of the Faddeev-Takhtajan eigenvalue problem is simple and lies on the unit circle.

This result (as well as that of Klaus-Shaw) can be considered a generalization of the Krein stability theory for symplectic matrices. We will develop these connections throughout the talk.

This is joint work with Mat Johnson.