Symmetric solutions to dispersionless 2D Toda hierarchy, Hurwitz numbers and conformal dynamics

We explicitly construct the series expansion for a certain class of solutions to the 2D Toda hierarchy in the zero dispersion limit, which we call symmetric solutions. We express the Taylor coefficients through some universal combinatorial constants and find recurrence relations for them. These results are used to obtain new formulas for the genus 0 double Hurwitz numbers. They can also serve as a starting point for a constructive approach to the Riemann mapping problem and the inverse potential problem in 2D.Comment: 26 page

Backlund transformations for difference Hirota equation and supersymmetric Bethe ansatz

We consider GL(K|M)-invariant integrable supersymmetric spin chains with twisted boundary conditions and elucidate the role of Backlund transformations in solving the difference Hirota equation for eigenvalues of their transfer matrices. The nested Bethe ansatz technique is shown to be equivalent to a chain of successive Backlund transformations "undressing" the original problem to a trivial one.Comment: 22 pages, 2 figures, based on the talk given at the Workshop "Classical and Quantum Integrable Systems", Dubna, January 200