Tau functions and the twistor theory of integrable systems

Abstract

We first define τ-functions as generalized cross-ratios of four points on a finite- or infinite-dimensional Grassmannian. We show how this definition can be used to construct a natural flat connection on a determinant line bundle associated with two equivariant holomorphic vector bundles over a twistor space, provided that the action of the symmetries on the bundles has the same normal form at the fixed points for the two bundles. The determinant line bundle has a natural meromorphic section of which the logarithmic covariant derivative is the logarithmic derivative of the τ-function. We establish a natural product formula for this τ-function; we show that it vanishes at the jumping lines of one bundle and has poles at the jumping lines of the other. We also show that this definition leads to standard expressions for the τ-functions of the KdV equation, the Ernst equation, and the isomonodromic deformation equations. We describe a new twistor treatment of the isomonodromic deformation equations.