KP Solitons from Tropical Limits

Abstract: We study solutions to the Kadomtsev-Petviashvili equation whose underlying algebraic curves undergo tropical degenerations. Riemann's theta function becomes a finite exponential sum that is supported on a Delaunay polytope. We introduce the Hirota variety which parametrizes all tau functions arising from such a sum. We compute tau functions from points on the Sato Grassmannian that represent Riemann-Roch spaces and we present an algorithm that finds a soliton solution from a rational nodal curve.