Solution of the Semi-Infinite Toda Lattice for Unbounded Sequences

The semi-infinite Toda lattice is the system of differential equations d _n (t)/dt = _n (t)(b _n+1(t) – b _n (t)), db _n (t)/dt = 2( _n ²(t) – _n–1 ²(t)), n = 1, 2, ..., t > 0. The solution of this system (if it exists) is a pair of real sequences _n (t), b _n (t) which satisfy the conditions _n (0) = _n ,, b _n (0) = b _n , where _n > 0 and b _n are given sequences of real numbers. It is well known that the system has a unique solution provided that both sequences _n and b _n are bounded. When at least one of the known sequences _n and b _n is unbounded, many difficulties arise and, to the best of our knowledge, there are few results concerning the solution of the system. In this letter we find a class of unbounded sequences _n and b _n such that the system has a unique solution. The results are illustrated with a typical example where the sequences _i (t), b _i (t), i = 1, 2, ... can be exactly determined. The connection of the Toda lattice with the semi-infinite differential-difference equation d²/dt ² log h _n = h _n+1 + h _n–1 – 2h _n , n = 1, 2, ... is also discussed and the above results are translated to analogous results for the last equation.