Spectral Curves for Third-Order ODOs

Abstract

Spectral curves are algebraic curves associated to commutative subalgebras of rings of ordinary differential operators (ODOs). Their origin is linked to the Korteweg–de Vries equation and to seminal works on commuting ODOs by I. Schur and Burchnall and Chaundy. They allow the solvability of the spectral problem Ly=λy, for an algebraic parameter λ and an algebro-geometric ODO L, whose centralizer is known to be the affine ring of an abstract spectral curve Γ. In this work, we use differential resultants to effectively compute the defining ideal of the spectral curve Γ, defined by the centralizer of a third-order differential operator L, with coefficients in an arbitrary differential field of zero characteristic. For this purpose, defining ideals of planar spectral curves associated to commuting pairs are described as radicals of differential elimination ideals. In general, Γ is a non-planar space curve and we provide the first explicit example. As a consequence, the computation of a first-order right factor of L−λ becomes explicit over a new coefficient field containing Γ. Our results establish a new framework appropriate to develop a Picard–Vessiot theory for spectral problems.