Integrability of Nonabelian Differential–Difference Equations: The Symmetry Approach

Abstract We extend the approach proposed in Mikhailov et al. (Commun Math Phys 393:1063–1104, 2022) to tackle the integrability problem for evolutionary differential–difference equations (D $$\Delta $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Δ</mml:mi> </mml:math> Es) on free associative algebras, also referred to as nonabelian D $$\Delta $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Δ</mml:mi> </mml:math> Es. This approach enables us to derive necessary integrability conditions, determine the integrability of a given equation, and make progress in the classification of integrable nonabelian D $$\Delta $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Δ</mml:mi> </mml:math> Es. This work involves establishing symbolic representations for the nonabelian difference algebra, difference operators, and formal series, as well as introducing a quasi-local extension for the algebra of formal series within the context of symbolic representations. Applying this formalism, we solve the classification problem of integrable skew-symmetric quasi-linear nonabelian equations of orders $$(-1,1)$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mn>1</mml:mn> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> , $$(-2,2)$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mn>2</mml:mn> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> , and $$(-3,3)$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mo>(</mml:mo> <mml:mo>-</mml:mo> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> <mml:mo>)</mml:mo> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> , consequently revealing some new equations in the process.