Finite-rank KdV dressing determinant ($q=2{\partial }_x^2\log \det (I+A)$)

Choose distinct ${\kappa }_j>0$ and weights $c_j>0$ at spectral points $i{\kappa }_j$. With $E_j=e^{-{\kappa }_{j}x+{\kappa }_j^{3}t}$ and $A_{ij}=c_j{E}_i/({\kappa }_i+{\kappa }_j)$, solve $(I+A)\Phi =E$. The reconstructed multisoliton solution is $q=-{\partial }_x(c^T\Phi )$. Since $\Lambda A+A\Lambda =E{c}^T$, cyclicity of the trace gives $c^T\Phi =-2{\partial }_x\log \det (I+A)$. The Cauchy matrix $1/({\kappa }_i+{\kappa }_j)$ is positive definite, because it is the Gram matrix of $e^{-{\kappa }_{i}s}$ on $s>0$; diagonal similarity then proves $\det (I+A)>0$. For one spectral point this yields $q=({\kappa }^2/2){\mathrm{sech}}^2[\kappa (x-{\kappa }^{2}t-x_0)/2]$.