Abstract
Bi-integrable couplings of soliton equations are presented through introducing non-semisimple matrix Lie algebras on which there exist non-degenerate, symmetric and ad-invariant bilinear forms. The corresponding variational identity yields Hamiltonian structures of the resulting bi-integrable couplings. An application to the AKNS spectral problem gives bi-integrable couplings with Hamiltonian structures for the AKNS equations. (C) 2014 IMACS. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.