On generalized Volterra systems

Abstract

We construct a large family of evidently integrable Hamiltonian systems which are generalizations of the KM system. The Hamiltonian vector field is homogeneous cubic but in a number of cases a simple change of variables transforms such a system to a quadratic Lotka-Volterra system. We present in detail all such systems in dimensions 4 and 5 and we also give some examples from higher dimensions. This construction generalizes easily to each complex simple Lie algebra.

26 pages