Lie Symmetries of the Wave Equation on the Sphere Using Geometry

Abstract

A semilinear quadratic equation of the form Aij(x)uij=Bi(x,u)ui+F(x,u) defines a metric Aij; therefore, it is possible to relate the Lie point symmetries of the equation with the symmetries of this metric. The Lie symmetry conditions break into two sets: one set containing the Lie derivative of the metric wrt the Lie symmetry generator, and the other set containing the quantities Bi(x,u),F(x,u). From the first set, it follows that the generators of Lie point symmetries are elements of the conformal algebra of the metric Aij, while the second set serves as constraint equations, which select elements from the conformal algebra of Aij. Therefore, it is possible to determine the Lie point symmetries using a geometric approach based on the computation of the conformal Killing vectors of the metric Aij. In the present article, the nonlinear Poisson equation Δgu−f(u)=0 is studied. The metric defined by this equation is 1 + 2 decomposable along the gradient Killing vector ∂t. It is a conformally flat metric, which admits 10 conformal Killing vectors. We determine the conformal Killing vectors of this metric using a general geometric method, which computes the conformal Killing vectors of a general 1+(n−1) decomposable metric in a systematic way. It is found that the nonlinear Poisson equation Δgu−f(u)=0 admits Lie point symmetries only when f(u)=ku, and in this case, only the Killing vectors are admitted. It is shown that the Noether point symmetries coincide with the Lie point symmetries. This approach/method can be used to study the Lie point symmetries of more complex equations and with more degrees of freedom.

Keywords

• Lie point symmetries
• wave equation
• sphere
• conformal Killing vectors
• 1 + (<i>n</i> − 1) decomposable metric