Explicit integration of the full symmetric Toda hierarchy and the sorting property

Abstract

We give an explicit formula for the solution to the initial-value problem of the full symmetric Toda hierarchy. The formula is obtained by the orthogonalization procedure of Szegö, and is also interpreted as a consequence of the QR factorization method of Symes. The sorting property of the dynamics is also proved for the case of a generic symmetric matrix in the sense described in the text, and generalizations of tridagonal formulae are given for the case of matrices with 2M+1 nonzero diagonals.