  We describe a geometric theory of Virasoro constraints in generalized
Drinfeld-Sokolov hierarchies. Solutions of Drinfeld-Sokolov hierarchies are
succinctly described by giving a principal bundle on a complex curve together
with the data of a Higgs field near infinity. String solutions for these
hierarchies are defined as points having a big stabilizer under a certain Lie
algebra action. We characterize principal bundles coming from string solutions
as those possessing connections compatible with the Higgs field near infinity.
We show that tau-functions of string solutions satisfy second-order
differential equations generalizing the Virasoro constraints of 2d quantum
gravity.
