ON A GENERALIZED TZITZEICA EQUATION

Extending the so called coupled KP hierarchy to negative time flows one obtains coupled Toda-type equations defined on a two-dimensional lattice. These equations allow for reductions to 1+1 dimensional integrable systems that are defined on a finite part of this lattice. A system of coupled Hirota bilinear equations, obtained from such a reduction and defined on only 5 points of the lattice, will be shown to correspond to a coupling of a Tzitzeica equation to two linear equations. The Lax representation of this system is also presented.