Generalized reflection coefficients

I consider general reflection coefficients for arbitrary one-dimensional whole line differential or difference operators of order $2$. These reflection coefficients are semicontinuous functions of the operator: their absolute value can only go down when limits are taken. This implies a corresponding semicontinuity result for the absolutely continuous spectrum, which applies to a very large class of maps. In particular, we can consider shift maps (thus recovering and generalizing a result of Last-Simon) and flows of the Toda and KdV hierarchies (this is new). Finally, I evaluate an attempt at finding a similar general setup that gives the much stronger conclusion of reflectionless limit operators in more specialized situations.Comment: ref. [5] in the bibliography corrected (two coauthors were missing

Supersymmetric Reflection Matrices

We briefly review the general structure of integrable particle theories in 1+1 dimensions having N=1 supersymmetry. Examples are specific perturbed superconformal field theories (of Yang-Lee type) and the N=1 supersymmetric sine-Gordon theory. We comment on the modifications that are required when the N=1 supersymmetry algebra contains non-trivial topological charges.Comment: 7 pages, Revtex, 2 figures, talk given at the International Seminar on Supersymmetry and Quantum Field Theory, dedicated to the memory of D.V.Volkov, Kharkov (Ukraine), January 5-7, 199