Lie symmetry analysis of the Grad-Shafranov equation

Abstract

The theory of plasma physics offers a number of nontrivial examples of partial differential equations, which can be successfully treated with symmetry methods. We propose the Grad-Shafranov equation which may illustrate the reciprocal advantage of this interaction between plasma physics and symmetry techniques. A symmetry classification of the Grad-Shafranov equation with two arbitrary functions $F(u)$ and $G(u)$ of the unknown variable $u=u(x,t)$ is given. The optimal system of one-dimensional subalgebras is performed. This latter provides a process for building new solutions for the equation.