A q-difference Baxter's operator for the Ablowitz-Ladik chain

We construct the Baxter's operator and the corresponding Baxter's equation for a quantum version of the Ablowitz Ladik model. The result is achieved by looking at the quantum analogue of the classical Backlund transformations. For comparison we find the same result by using the well-known Bethe ansatz technique. General results about integrable models governed by the same r-matrix algebra will be given. The Baxter's equation comes out to be a q-difference equation involving both the trace and the quantum determinant of the monodromy matrix. The spectrality property of the classical Backlund transformations gives a trace formula representing the classical analogue of the Baxter's equation. An explicit q-integral representation of the Baxter's operator is discussed.Comment: 16 page

B\"acklund Transformations for the Trigonometric Gaudin Magnet

We construct a Backlund transformation for the trigonometric classical Gaudin magnet starting from the Lax representation of the model. The Darboux dressing matrix obtained depends just on one set of variables because of the so-called spectrality property introduced by E. Sklyanin and V. Kuznetsov. In the end we mention some possibly interesting open problems.Comment: contribution to the Proc. of "Integrable Systems and Quantum Symmetries 2009", Prague, June 18-20, 200

Exergy dynamics of systems in thermal or concentration non-equilibrium

The paper addresses the problem of the existence and quantification of the exergy of non-equilibrium systems. Assuming that both energy and exergy are a priori concepts, the Gibbs "available energy" A is calculated for arbitrary temperature or concentration distributions across the body, with an accuracy that depends only on the information one has of the initial distribution. It is shown that A exponentially relaxes to its equilibrium value, and it is then demonstrated that its value is different from that of the non-equilibrium exergy, the difference depending on the imposed boundary conditions on the system and thus the two quantities are shown to be incommensurable. It is finally argued that all iso-energetic non-equilibrium states can be ranked in terms of their non-equilibrium exergy content, and that each point of the Gibbs plane corresponds therefore to a set of possible initial distributions, each one with its own exergy-decay history. The non-equilibrium exergy is always larger than its equilibrium counterpart and constitutes the "real" total exergy content of the system, i.e., the real maximum work extractable from the initial system. A systematic application of this paradigm may be beneficial for meaningful future applications in the fields of engineering and natural science

Ermakov-Pinney and Emden-Fowler equations: new solutions from novel B\"acklund transformations

The class of nonlinear ordinary differential equations $y^{\prime\prime}y = F(z,y^2)$, where F is a smooth function, is studied. Various nonlinear ordinary differential equations, whose applicative importance is well known, belong to such a class of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Indeed, the Emden-Fowler equation, the Ermakov-Pinney equation and the generalized Ermakov equations are among them. B\"acklund transformations and auto B\"acklund transformations are constructed: these last transformations induce the construction of a ladder of new solutions adimitted by the given differential equations starting from a trivial solutions. Notably, the highly nonlinear structure of this class of nonlinear ordinary differential equations implies that numerical methods are very difficulty to apply

B\"acklund Transformations for the Kirchhoff Top

We construct B\"acklund transformations (BTs) for the Kirchhoff top by taking advantage of the common algebraic Poisson structure between this system and the $sl(2)$ trigonometric Gaudin model. Our BTs are integrable maps providing an exact time-discretization of the system, inasmuch as they preserve both its Poisson structure and its invariants. Moreover, in some special cases we are able to show that these maps can be explicitly integrated in terms of the initial conditions and of the "iteration time" $n$. Encouraged by these partial results we make the conjecture that the maps are interpolated by a specific one-parameter family of hamiltonian flows, and present the corresponding solution. We enclose a few pictures where the orbits of the continuous and of the discrete flow are depicted

Continuous and Discrete (Classical) Heisenberg Spin Chain Revised

Most of the work done in the past on the integrability structure of the Classical Heisenberg Spin Chain (CHSC) has been devoted to studying the $su(2)$ case, both at the continuous and at the discrete level. In this paper we address the problem of constructing integrable generalized ''Spin Chains'' models, where the relevant field variable is represented by a $N\times N$ matrix whose eigenvalues are the $N^{th}$ roots of unity. To the best of our knowledge, such an extension has never been systematically pursued. In this paper, at first we obtain the continuous $N\times N$ generalization of the CHSC through the reduction technique for Poisson-Nijenhuis manifolds, and exhibit some explicit, and hopefully interesting, examples for $3\times 3$ and $4\times 4$ matrices; then, we discuss the much more difficult discrete case, where a few partial new results are derived and a conjecture is made for the general case.Comment: This is a contribution to the Proc. of workshop on Geometric Aspects of Integrable Systems (July 17-19, 2006; Coimbra, Portugal), published in SIGMA (Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications) at http://www.emis.de/journals/SIGMA