Ermakov-Painlev\'e II Symmetry Reduction of a Korteweg Capillarity System

Abstract

A class of nonlinear Schr\"odinger equations involving a triad of power law terms together with a de Broglie-Bohm potential is shown to admit symmetry reduction to a hybrid Ermakov-Painlev\'e II equation which is linked, in turn, to the integrable Painlev\'e XXXIV equation. A nonlinear Schr\"odinger encapsulation of a Korteweg-type capillary system is thereby used in the isolation of such a Ermakov-Painlev\'e II reduction valid for a multi-parameter class of free energy functions. Iterated application of a B\"acklund transformation then allows the construction of novel classes of exact solutions of the nonlinear capillarity system in terms of Yablonskii-Vorob'ev polynomials or classical Airy functions. A Painlev\'e XXXIV equation is derived for the density in the capillarity system and seen to correspond to the symmetry reduction of its Bernoulli integral of motion.