Triangulations and soliton graphs for totally positive Grassmannian

Abstract

The KP equation is a nonlinear dispersive wave equation which provides an excellent model for resonant interactions of shallow-water waves. It is well known that regular soliton solutions of the KP equation may be constructed from points in the totally nonnegative Grassmannian Gr$(N,M)_{\geq 0}$. Kodama and Williams studied the asymptotic patterns (tropical limit) of KP solitons, called soliton graphs, and showed that they correspond to Postnikov's Le-diagrams. In this paper, we consider soliton graphs for the KP hierarchy, a family of commuting flows which are compatible with the KP equation. For the positive Grassmannian Gr$(2,M)_{>0}$, Kodama and Williams showed that soliton graphs are in bijection with triangulations of the $M$-gon. We extend this result to Gr$(N,M)_{>0}$ when $N=3$ and $M=6,7$ and $8$. In each case, we show that soliton graphs are in bijection with Postnikov's plabic graphs, which generalize Le-diagrams.