Affine manifolds: The differential geometry of the multi-dimensionally consistent TED equation

Abstract

It is shown that a canonical geometric setting of the integrable TED equation is a Kählerian tangent bundle of an affine manifold. The remarkable multi-dimensional consistency of this 4+4-dimensional dispersionless partial differential equation arises naturally in this context. In a particular 4-dimensional reduction, the affine manifolds turn out to be self-dual Einstein spaces of neutral signature governed by Plebański's first heavenly equation. In another reduction, the affine manifolds are Hessian, governed by compatible general heavenly equations. The Legendre invariance of the latter gives rise to a (dual) Hessian structure. Foliations of affine manifolds in terms of self-dual Einstein spaces are also shown to arise in connection with a natural 5-dimensional reduction.