Invariant Reduction for Partial Differential Equations. I: Conservation Laws and Systems with Two Independent Variables

Abstract

For a system of partial differential equations that has an extended Kovalevskaya form, a reduction procedure is presented that allows one to use a local (point, contact, or higher) symmetry of a system and a symmetry-invariant conservation law to algorithmically calculate constants of motion holding for symmetry-invariant solutions. Several examples including cases of point and higher symmetry invariance are presented and discussed. An implementation of the algorithm in Maple is provided.