Discrete integrable systems and Pitman's transformation

Abstract

We survey recent work that relates Pitman's transformation to a variety of classical integrable systems, including the box-ball system, the ultra-discrete and discrete KdV equations, and the ultra-discrete and discrete Toda lattice equations. It is explained how this connection enables the dynamics of the integrable systems to be initiated from infinite configurations, which is important in the study of invariant measures. In the special case of spatially independent and identically distributed configurations, progress on the latter topic is also reported.