This is the third in a series of papers attempting to describe a uniform geometric framework in which many integrable systems can be placed. A soliton hierarchy can be constructed from a splitting of an infinite dimensional group $L$ as positive and
negative subgroups L_+, L_- and a commuting sequence in the Lie algebra of L_+. Given f in L_-, there is a formal inverse scattering solution u_f of the hierarchy. When there is a 2 co-cycle that vanishes on both subalgebras of L_+ and L_-, Wilson constructed for each f in L_- a tau function tau_f for the hierarchy. In this third paper, we prove the following results for the nxn KdV hierarchy: (1) The second partials of ln(tau_f) are differential polynomials of the formal inverse scattering solution u_f. Moreover, u_f can be recovered from the second partials of ln(tau_f). (2) The natural Virasoro action on ln(tau_f) constructed in the second paper is given by partial differential operators in ln(tau_f). (3) There is a bijection between phase spaces of the nxn KdV hierarchy and the Gelfand-Dickey (GD_n) hierarchy on the space of order n linear differential operators on the line so that the flows in these two hierarchies correspond under the bijection. (4) Our Virasoro action on the nxn KdV hierarchy is constructed from a simple Virasoro action on the negative group. We show that it corresponds to the known Virasoro action on the GD_n hierarchy under the bijection.
There is a general method for constructing a soliton hierarchy from a splitting of a loop group as a positive and a negative sub-groups together with a commuting linearly independent sequence in the positive Lie subalgebra. Many known soliton hierarc
hies can be constructed this way. The formal inverse scattering associates to each f in the negative subgroup a solution u_f of the hierarchy. When there is a 2 co-cycle of the Lie algebra that vanishes on both sub-algebras, Wilson constructed a tau function tau_f for each element f in the negative subgroup. In this paper, we give integral formulas for variations of ln(tau_f) and second partials of ln(tau_f), discuss whether we can recover solutions u_f from tau_f, and give a general construction of actions of the positive half of the Virasoro algebra on tau functions. We write down formulas relating tau functions and formal inverse scattering solutions and the Virasoro vector fields for the GL(n,C)-hierarchy.
