The multicomponent 2D Toda hierarchy: dispersionless limit

The factorization problem of the multi-component 2D Toda hierarchy is used to analyze the dispersionless limit of this hierarchy. A dispersive version of the Whitham hierarchy defined in terms of scalar Lax and Orlov--Schulman operators is introduced and the corresponding additional symmetries and string equations are discussed. Then, it is shown how KP and Toda pictures of the dispersionless Whitham hierarchy emerge in the dispersionless limit. Moreover, the additional symmetries and string equations for the dispersive Whitham hierarchy are studied in this limit.