Volterra lattice

In mathematics, the Volterra lattice, also known as the discrete KdV equation, the Kac–van Moerbeke lattice, and the Langmuir lattice, is a system of ordinary differential equations with variables indexed by some of the points of a 1-dimensional lattice. It was introduced by and and is named after Vito Volterra. The Volterra lattice is a special case of the generalized Lotka–Volterra equation describing predator–prey interactions, for a sequence of species with each species preying on the next in the sequence. The Volterra lattice also behaves like a discrete version of the KdV equation. The Volterra lattice is an integrable system, and is related to the Toda lattice. It is also used as a model for Langmuir waves in plasmas.
Definition.
The Volterra lattice is the set of ordinary differential equations for functions "a""n":
where "n" is an integer. Usually one adds boundary conditions: for example, the functions "a""n" could be periodic: "a""n" = "a""n"+"N" for some "N", or could vanish for "n" ≤ 0 and "n" ≥ "N".
The Volterra lattice was originally stated in terms of the variables "R""n" = –log "a""n" in which case the equations are