Semisimple cyclic elements in semisimple Lie algebras

Abstract

This paper is a continuation of the theory of cyclic elements in semisimple Lie algebras, developed by Elashvili, Kac and Vinberg. Its main result is the classification of semisimple cyclic elements in semisimple Lie algebras. The importance of this classification stems from the fact that each such element gives rise to an integrable hierarchy of Hamiltonian PDE of Drinfeld-Sokolov type.