On Darboux non-integrability of the Hietarinta equation

Abstract

The autonomous Hietarinta equation is a well-known example of the quad-graph discrete equation which is consistent around the cube. In a recent work, it was conjectured that this equation is Darboux integrable (i.e., for each of two independent discrete variables there exist non-trivial functions that remain unchanged on solutions of the equation after the shift in this discrete variable). We demonstrate that this conjecture is not true for generic values of the equation coefficients. To do this, we employ two-point invertible transformations introduced by R.I.~Yamilov. We prove that an autonomous difference equation on the quad-graph cannot be Darboux integrable if a transformation of the above type maps solutions of this equation into its solutions again. This implies that the generic Hietarinta equation is not Darboux integrable since the Hietarinta equation in the general case possesses the two-point invertible auto-transformations. Along the way, all Darboux integrable subcases of the Hietarinta equation are found. All of them are reduced by point transformations to already known integrable equations. At the end of the article, we also briefly describe another way to prove the Darboux non-integrability of the Hietarinta equation. This alternative way is based on the known fact that a difference substitution relates this equation to a linear one. Thus, the Hietarinta equation gives us an example of a quad-graph equation that is linearizable but not Darboux integrable.