Symmetry structure of integrable hyperbolic third order equations

Abstract We explore the application of generating symmetries, i.e. symmetries that depend on a parameter, to integrable hyperbolic third order equations, and in particular to consistent pairs of such equations as introduced by Adler and Shabat in [1]. Our main result is that different infinite hierarchies of symmetries for these equations can arise from a single generating symmetry by expansion about different values of the parameter. We illustrate this, and study in depth the symmetry structure, for two examples. The first is an equation related to the potential KdV equation taken from [1]. The second is a more general hyperbolic equation than the kind considered in [1]. Both equations depend on a parameter, and when this parameter vanishes they become part of a consistent pair. When this happens, the nature of the expansions of the generating symmetries needed to derive the hierarchies also changes.