Singularities of Whitham flows for hyperelliptic spectral curves

Abstract

We consider the Whitham equations for deformations of hyperelliptic spectral curves, which preserve all periods of a meromorphic differential. If the meromorphic differential has a root at a fixed point of the hyperelliptic involution, then the Whitham flow has a singularity. We prove that the stable and unstable manifolds are non-empty and extend the Whitham flow continuously through the singularity.