General Solution of 7D Octonionic Top Equation

Abstract

The general solution of a 7D analogue of the 3D Euler top equation is shown to be given by an integration over a Riemann surface with genus 9. The 7D model is derived from the 8D $Spin(7)$ invariant self-dual Yang-Mills equation depending only upon one variable and is regarded as a model describing self-dual membrane instantons. Several integrable reductions of the 7D top to lower target space dimensions are discussed and one of them gives 6, 5, 4D descendants and the 3D Euler top associated with Riemann surfaces with genus 6, 5, 2 and 1, respectively.