Spectral/quadrature duality: Picard-Vessiot theory and finite-gap potentials

Abstract

In the framework of differential Galois theory we treat the classical spectral problem $\Psi"-u(x)\Psi=\lambda\Psi$ and its finite-gap potentials as exactly solvable in quadratures by Picard--Vessiot without involving special functions; the ideology goes back to the 1919 works by J. Drach. We show that duality between spectral and quadrature approaches is realized through the Weierstrass permutation theorem for a logarithmic Abelian integral. From this standpoint we inspect known facts and obtain new ones: an important formula for the $\Psi$-function and $\Theta$-function extensions of Picard--Vessiot fields. In particular, extensions by Jacobi's $\theta$-functions lead to the (quadrature) algebraically integrable equations for the $\theta$-functions themselves.