Conformal Mappings and Dispersionless Toda Hierarchy II: General String Equations

Abstract

In this article, we classify the solutions of the dispersionless Toda hierarchy into degenerate and non-degenerate cases. We show that every non-degenerate solution is determined by a function $\mathcal{H}(z_1,z_2)$ of two variables. We interpret these non-degenerate solutions as defining evolutions on the space $\mathfrak{D}$ of pairs of conformal mappings $(g,f)$, where $g$ is a univalent function on the exterior of the unit disc, $f$ is a univalent function on the unit disc, normalized such that $g(\infty)=\infty$, $f(0)=0$ and $f'(0)g'(\infty)=1$. For each solution, we show how to define the natural time variables $t_n, n\in\Z$, as complex coordinates on the space $\mathfrak{D}$. We also find explicit formulas for the tau function of the dispersionless Toda hierarchy in terms of $\mathcal{H}(z_1, z_2)$. Imposing some conditions on the function $\mathcal{H}(z_1, z_2)$, we show that the dispersionless Toda flows can be naturally restricted to the subspace $\Sigma$ of $\mathfrak{D}$ defined by $f(w)=1/\overline{g(1/\bar{w})}$. This recovers the result of Zabrodin.