We study the problem of preservation of maximal canards for time discretized fast–slow systems with canard fold points. In order to ensure such preservation, certain favorable structure-preserving properties of the discretization scheme are required. Conventional schemes do not possess such properties. We perform a detailed analysis for an unconventional discretization scheme due to Kahan. The analysis uses the blow-up method to deal with the loss of normal hyperbolicity at the canard point. We show that the structure-preserving properties of the Kahan discretization for quadratic vector fields imply a similar result as in continuous time, guaranteeing the occurrence of maximal canards between attracting and repelling slow manifolds upon variation of a bifurcation parameter. The proof is based on a Melnikov computation along an invariant separating curve, which organizes the dynamics of the map similarly to the ODE problem.

We analyze the relation of the notion of a pluri-Lagrangian system, which recently emerged in the theory of integrable systems, to the classical notion of variational symmetry, due to E. Noether. We treat classical mechanical systems and show that, for any Lagrangian system with m commuting variational symmetries, one can construct a pluri-Lagrangian 1-form in the (m + 1)-dimensional time, whose multi-time Euler-Lagrange equations coincide with the original system supplied with m commuting evolutionary flows corresponding to the variational symmetries. We also give a Hamiltonian counterpart of this construction, leading, for any system of commuting Hamiltonian flows, to a pluri-Lagrangian 1-form with coefficients depending on functions in the phase space.

We contribute to the algebraic-geometric study of discrete integrable systems generated by planar birational maps: (a) we find geometric description of Manin involutions for elliptic pencils consisting of curves of higher degree, birationally equivalent to cubic pencils (Halphen pencils of index 1), and (b) we characterize special geometry of base points ensuring that certain compositions of Manin involutions are integrable maps of low degree (quadratic Cremona maps). In particular, we identify some integrable Kahan discretizations as compositions of Manin involutions for elliptic pencils of higher degree.

We investigate the relation between pluri-Lagrangian hierarchies of 2-dimensional partial differential equations and their variational symmetries. The aim is to generalize to the case of partial differential equations the recent findings in Petrera and Suris (Nonlinear Math. Phys. 24(suppl. 1):121–145, 2017) for ordinary differential equations. We consider hierarchies of 2-dimensional Lagrangian PDEs (many of which have a natural $$(1\,{+}\,1)$$ -dimensional space-time interpretation) and show that if the flow of each PDE is a variational symmetry of all others, then there exists a pluri-Lagrangian 2-form for the hierarchy. The corresponding multi-time Euler–Lagrange equations coincide with the original system supplied with commuting evolutionary flows induced by the variational symmetries.

Kahan discretization is applicable to any system of ordinary differential equations on $\mathbb R^n$ with a quadratic vector field, $\dot{x}=f(x)=Q(x)+Bx+c$, and produces a birational map $x\mapsto \widetilde{x}$ according to the formula $(\widetilde{x}-x)/\epsilon=Q(x,\widetilde{x})+B(x+\widetilde{x})/2+c$, where $Q(x,\widetilde{x})$ is the symmetric bilinear form corresponding to the quadratic form $Q(x)$. When applied to integrable systems, Kahan discretization preserves integrability much more frequently than one would expect a priori, however not always. We show that in some cases where the original recipe fails to preserve integrability, one can adjust coefficients of the Kahan discretization to ensure its integrability.

Kahan discretization is applicable to any quadratic vector field and produces a birational map which approximates the shift along the phase flow. For a planar quadratic canonical Hamiltonian vector field, this map is known to be integrable and to preserve a pencil of cubic curves. Generically, the nine base points of this pencil include three points at infinity (corresponding to the asymptotic directions of cubic curves) and six finite points lying on a conic. We show that the Kahan discretization map can be represented in six different ways as a composition of two Manin involutions, corresponding to an infinite base point and to a finite base point. As a consequence, the finite base points can be ordered so that the resulting hexagon has three pairs of parallel sides which pass through the three base points at infinity. Moreover, this geometric condition on the base points turns out to be characteristic: if it is satisfied, then the cubic curves of the corresponding pencil are invariant under the Kahan discretization of a planar quadratic canonical Hamiltonian vector field.

R. Hirota and K. Kimura discovered integrable discretizations of the Euler and the Lagrange tops, given by birational maps. Their method is a specialization to the integrable context of a general discretization scheme introduced by W. Kahan and applicable to any vector field with a quadratic dependence on phase variables. We report several novel observations regarding integrability of the Kahan-Hirota-Kimura discretization. For several of the most complicated cases for which integrability is known (Clebsch system, Kirchhoff system, and Lagrange top), - we give nice compact formulas for some of the more complicated integrals of motion and for the density of the invariant measure, and - we establish the existence of higher order Wronskian Hirota-Kimura bases, generating the full set of integrals of motion. While the first set of results admits nice algebraic proofs, the second one relies on computer algebra.

We present some new families of quadratic vector fields, not necessarily integrable, for which their Kahan-Hirota-Kimura discretization exhibits the preservation of some of the characterizing features of the underlying continuous systems (conserved quantities and invariant measures).

We classify multidimensionally consistent maps given by (formal or convergent) series of the following kind: T_k x_ij=x_ij + ∑ _m=2^∞ A_ij ; k^(m)(x_ij,x_ik,x_jk), where A_ij; k^(m) are homogeneous polynomials of degree m of their respective arguments. The result of our classification is that the only non-trivial multidimensionally consistent map in this class is given by the well-known symmetric discrete Darboux system T_k x_ij=x_ij+x_ikx_jk/√(1-x_ik^2)√(1-x_jk^2).

We present a systematic technique to find explicit solutions of birational maps, provided that these solutions are given in terms of elliptic functions. The two main ingredients are: (i) application of classical addition theorems for elliptic functions, and (ii) experimental technique to detect an algebraic curve containing a given sequence of points in a plane. These methods are applied to Kahan-Hirota-Kimura discretizations of the periodic Volterra chains with 3 and 4 particles.

We give a construction of completely integrable four-dimensional Hamiltonian systems with cubic Hamilton functions. Applying to the corresponding pairs of commuting quadratic Hamiltonian vector fields the so called Kahan–Hirota–Kimura discretization scheme, we arrive at pairs of birational four-dimensional maps. We show that these maps are symplectic with respect to a symplectic structure that is a perturbation of the standard symplectic structure on R 4 , and possess two independent integrals of motion, which are perturbations of the original Hamilton functions and which are in involution with respect to the perturbed symplectic structure. Thus, these maps are completely integrable in the Liouville–Arnold sense. Moreover, under a suitable normalization of the original pairs of vector fields, the pairs of maps commute and share the invariant symplectic structure and the two integrals of motion.

We give a construction of completely integrable $(2m)$-dimensional Hamiltonian systems with cubic Hamilton functions. The construction depends on a constant skew-Hamiltonian matrix $A$, that is, a matrix satisfying $A^{\rm T}J=JA$, where $J$ is a non-degenerate skew-symmetric matrix defining the standard symplectic structure on the phase space $\mathbb R^{2m}$. Applying to any such system the so called Kahan-Hirota-Kimura discretization scheme, we arrive at a birational $(2m)$-dimensional map. We show that this map is symplectic with respect to a symplectic structure that is a perturbation of the standard symplectic structure on $\mathbb R^{2m}$, and possesses $m$ independent integrals of motion, which are perturbations of the original Hamilton functions and are in involution with respect to the invariant symplectic structure. Thus, this map is completely integrable in the Liouville-Arnold sense. Moreover, under a suitable normalization of the original $m$-tuples of commuting vector fields, their Kahan-Hirota-Kimura discretizations also commute and share the invariant symplectic structure and the $m$ integrals of motion.

We elucidate consistency of the so-called corner equations which are elementary building blocks of Euler-Lagrange equations for two-dimensional pluri-Lagrangian problems. We show that their consistency can be derived from the existence of two independent octahedron relations. We give explicit formulas for octahedron relations in terms of corner equations.

We study the variational structure of the discrete Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (dKP) equation by means of its pluri-Lagrangian formulation. We consider the dKP equation and its variational formulation on the cubic lattice ${\mathbb Z}^{N}$ as well as on the root lattice $Q(A_{N})$. We prove that, on a lattice of dimension at least four, the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations are equivalent to the dKP equation.

We prove that the cosine law for spherical triangles and spherical tetrahedra defines integrable systems, both in the sense of multidimensional consistency and in the sense of dynamical systems.

We propose a notion of a pluri-Lagrangian problem, which should be understood as an analogue of multi-dimensional consistency for variational systems. This is a development along the line of research of discrete integrable Lagrangian systems initiated in 2009 by Lobb and Nijhoff, however, having its more remote roots in the theory of pluriharmonic functions, in the Z-invariant models of statistical mechanics and their quasiclassical limit, as well as in the theory of variational symmetries going back to Noether. A d-dimensional pluri-Lagrangian problem can be described as follows: given a d-form [Formula: see text] on an m-dimensional space (called multi-time, m>d), whose coefficients depend on a sought-after function x of m independent variables (called field), find those fields x which deliver critical points to the action functionals [Formula: see text] for anyd-dimensional manifold Σ in the multi-time. We derive the main building blocks of the multi-time Euler-Lagrange equations for a discrete pluri-Lagrangian problem with d=2, the so-called corner equations, and discuss the notion of consistency of the system of corner equations. We analyse the system of corner equations for a special class of three-point two-forms, corresponding to integrable quad-equations of the ABS list. This allows us to close a conceptual gap of the work by Lobb and Nijhoff by showing that the corresponding two-forms are closed not only on solutions of (non-variational) quad-equations, but also on general solutions of the corresponding corner equations. We also find an example of a pluri-Lagrangian system not coming from a multi-dimensionally consistent system of quad-equations.

General Lagrangian theory of discrete one-dimensional integrable systems is illustrated by a detailed study of Bäcklund transformations for Toda-type systems. Commutativity of Bäcklund transformations is shown to be equivalent to the consistency of the system of discrete multi-time Euler–Lagrange equations. The precise meaning of the commutativity in the periodic case, when all maps are double-valued, is established. It is shown that the gluing of different branches is governed by the so-called superposition formulas. The closure relation for the multi-time Lagrangian 1-form on solutions of the variational equations is proved for all Toda-type systems. Superposition formulas are instrumental for this proof. The closure relation was previously shown to be equivalent to the spectrality property of Bäcklund transformations, i.e., to the fact that the derivative of the Lagrangian with respect to the spectral parameter is a common integral of motion of the family of Bäcklund transformations. We relate this integral of motion to the monodromy matrix of the zero curvature representation which is derived directly from equations of motion in an algorithmic way. This serves as further evidence in favor of the idea that Bäcklund transformations serve as zero curvature representations for themselves.

We consider an integrable three-dimensional system of ordinary differential equations introduced by S. V. Kovalevskaya in a letter to G. Mittag-Leffler. We prove its isomorphism with the three-dimensional Euler top, and propose two integrable discretizations for it. Then we present an integrable generalization of the Kovalevskaya system, and study the problem of integrable discretization for this generalized system.

We give an overview of the integrability of the Hirota-Kimura discretizationmethod applied to algebraically completely integrable (a.c.i.) systems with quadratic vector fields. Along with the description of the basic mechanism of integrability (Hirota-Kimura bases), we provide the reader with a fairly complete list of the currently available results for concrete a.c.i. systems.

This paper deals with a remarkable integrable discretization of the so (3) Euler top introduced by Hirota and Kimura. Such a discretization leads to an explicit map, whose integrability has been understood by finding two independent integrals of motion and a solution in terms of elliptic functions. Our goal is the construction of its Hamiltonian formulation. After giving a simplified and streamlined presentation of their results, we provide a bi‐Hamiltonian structure for this discretization, thus proving its integrability in the standard Liouville‐Arnold sense (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)