Chin. Phys. B Vol. 22, No. 4 (2013) 040510
Lie symmetries and exact solutions for a short-wave model
∗
Chen Ai-Yong(陈爱永)
a)
, Zhang Li-Na(章丽娜)
b)†
, and Wen Shuang-Quan(温双全)
a)
a)
School of Mathematics and Computing Science, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China
b)
School of Science, Huzhou University, Huzhou 313000, China
(Received 18 September 2012; revised manuscript received 28 November 2012)
In this paper, the Lie symmetry analysis and generalized symmetry method are performed for a short-wave model.
The symmetries for this equation are given, and the phase portraits of the traveling wave systems are analyzed using the
bifurcation theory of dynamical systems. The exact parametric representations of four types of traveling wave solutions are
obtained.
Keywords: Lie symmetry, short-wave model, bifurcation method, loop solution
PACS: 05.45.Yv, 02.30.Jr, 02.70.–c DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/22/4/040510
1. Introduction
It is well known that the study of nonlinear wave equa-
tions and their solutions are of great importance in many ar-
eas of physics.
[1–8]
The traveling wave solution is an important
type of solution for the nonlinear partial differential equation,
and many nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) have
been found to have a variety of traveling wave solutions.
[9–16]
The short pulse (SP) model equation attracted considerable
attention in a recent development of the theory of nonlinear
waves. Originally, it was found in an attempt to construct inte-
grable differential equations associated with pseudospherical
surfaces. In the context of physical problems, the SP equa-
tion was proposed as a model nonlinear equation describing
the propagation of ultrashort optical pulses in nonlinear me-
dia. Specifically, starting from the Maxwell equation of the
electric field in the fiber, Sch
¨
afer and Wayne
[1]
derived it as an
alternative of the cubic nonlinear Schr
¨
odinger equation. The
SP equation may be written in an appropriate dimensionless
form as
u
xt
= αu +
1
3
β(u
3
)
xx
, (1)
where u = u(x,t) is the unknown real function and subscripts
denote differentiation, x,t ∈ R,α and β are real parameters.
Practically, equation (1) can be written as a more usual form
as
u
xt
= αu + 2βuu
2
x
+ βu
2
u
xx
. (2)
Several analogous equations to the SP equation exist, and
they have been proven to be completely integrable. We write
one of them in the form
[2]
u
xt
= αu +
1
2
(1 −β)u
2
x
−uu
xx
. (3)
When β = 2, equation (3) becomes the short-wave model for
the Camassa–Holm equation, while when β = 4, it reduces to
the short-wave model for the Degasperis–Procesi equation and
the Vakhnenko equation. In this paper, we consider the case
for β = 3
u
xt
= αu −u
2
x
−uu
xx
. (4)
The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, we dis-
cuss the Lie symmetries of the short-wave model (4). In Sec-
tion 3, the generalized symmetry method is employed to inves-
tigate the symmetries of Eq. (4). In Section 4, we give exact
traveling wave solutions of the short-wave model (4) based on
the bifurcation theory of dynamical systems.
2. Lie symmetry analysis for the short-wave
model
The Lie group method is sometimes also called symme-
try analysis.
[17–23]
Roughly speaking, a symmetry group of a
system of differential equations is a group which transforms
the solutions of the system to other solutions. Once one has
determined the symmetry group of a system of differential
equations, a number of applications become available. To start
with, one can directly use the defining property of such a group
and construct new solutions to the system from known ones.
Firstly, let us consider a one-parameter Lie group of infinites-
imal transformation:
x →x + εξ(x,t,u), t →t + ετ(x,t,u),
u → u + εφ(x,t,u)
with a small parameter ε 1. The vector field associated with
the above group of transformations can be written as
V = ξ(x,t, u)
∂
∂ x
+ τ(x,t,u)
∂
∂t
+ φ(x,t,u)
∂
∂ u
. (5)
∗
Project supported by the Foundation of Guangxi Key Laboratory of Trusted Software, the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation, China (Grant
No. 2011GXNSFA018134), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 11161013 and 61004101).
†
Corresponding author. E-mail: zsdzln@126.com
© 2013 Chinese Physical Society and IOP Publishing Ltd http://iopscience.iop.org/cpb http://cpb.iphy.ac.cn
040510-1