1. Introduction
The Benjamin–Bona–Mahony equation (BBM), or regularised long wave (RLW) equation,
was first proposed by Benjamin et al. [
1] as an alternative mathematical model to the Korteweg–de Vries for modelling long wave motions in nonlinear dispersive systems. The authors stressed that both models are applicable at the same level of approximation, however, from a computational mathematics point of view, the BBM equation has some advantages over the KdV equation. Generalized forms of the BBM equation have been widely studied. In this paper, we consider a generalized family of Benjamin–Bona–Mahony–Burgers (gBBMB) equations given by
where
is an analytic function of the time coordinate
t and the spatial coordinates
x and
y,
,
,
and
f are arbitrary constants, whereas
is a nonlinear function. The gBBMB Equation (
2) was considered in [
2]. Here, the authors considered a new class of polynomial functions equipped with a parameter to approximate the solutions of the gBBMB Equation (
2).
Regarding the physical interpretation, the original BBM equation was proposed as a model of long waves in channel flows where nonlinear dispersion is incorporated. Its solutions approximate solutions of the two-dimensional Euler equations. Hence, for the two-dimensional model considered here (
2), the variables
keep the same physical interpretations as in Euler equations [
3,
4]. For two-dimensional water waves in a channel with a flat bottom, the independent variable
t is interpreted as the elapsed time and
determine the position, the horizontal and vertical coordinates along the channel, respectively.
Currently, nonlinear equations involving parameters and arbitrary functions, which arise in diverse fields as mathematical biology and physics, nonlinear dynamics and plasma physics, have attracted the attention of numerous researchers. Nevertheless, the analysis of nonlinear equations involving arbitrary functions is often difficult and laborious. In particular, for dealing with the determination of exact solutions, several direct methods have been elaborated, among them Kudryashov method [
5,
6,
7,
8], tanh-sech method [
9,
10], Painlevé analysis [
11,
12], Adomian decomposition method [
13,
14,
15,
16] and other special methods [
17,
18]. However, these methods just work for a limited kind of equations.
Lie symmetries of a partial differential equation (PDE) are transformations acting on the space of independent and dependent variables which transforms the PDE solution space into itself. The analysis of Lie symmetries is one of the most effective algorithms to analyse PDE equations including the construction of invariant solutions, construction of mappings between equivalent equations of the same family, finding invertible mappings of nonlinear PDEs to linear PDEs or finding conservation laws. Among these applications, we highlight the construction of invariant solutions, i.e., interesting special classes of solutions which are invariant under a Lie group of point transformations. In the case of a PDE, the invariance under a Lie group of point transformations allows one to obtain, constructively, similarity solutions (invariant solutions), which are invariant under a subgroup of the full Lie symmetry group admitted by the PDE. Similarity solutions arise as solutions of a reduced system of differential equations (DEs) with fewer number of independent variables. For further information on Lie symmetries and their applications one can refer, as example, to [
19,
20,
21,
22,
23] and references therein.
In many natural processes, such as physical or chemical ones, conservation laws emerge. Considering an isolated physical system, these laws characterise physical properties that do not change over time. Regarding PDEs, not all conservation laws have a physical interpretation. However, when a PDE has a large number of conservation laws it is usually an indicator of its integrability. Conservation laws are also studied for their applicability in numerical methods for PDEs since they are useful to investigate the existence, uniqueness and stability of solutions. Moreover, exact solutions can be constructed by using conservation laws.
With respect to the concept of conservation laws, different results can be found in the the recent literature. In [
24], Ibragimov proved a theorem to find conservation laws which do not require the existence of a classical Lagrangian. This theorem is based on the concept of adjoint equation for nonlinear DEs [
25,
26,
27]. Nontrivial conservation laws have been determined by using Ibragimov’s conservation law theorem, see, for instance, Refs. [
28,
29,
30]. Anco and Bluman presented a direct algorithmic method using adjoint-symmetries for finding all local conservation laws of a given DE system [
31,
32,
33,
34]. Moreover, in [
35], this general method was further developed and reviewed in detail. In [
36,
37], symmetry properties of conservation laws of PDEs are analysed by using the multiplier method. In particular, in [
36], it was proved that Ibragimov’s formula [
24] for determining conservation laws is equivalent to a standard formula for the action of an infinitesimal symmetry on a conservation law multiplier. The same author recently showed [
38] that Ibragimov’s method can lead to trivial conservation laws. Most importantly, the formula does not necessarily yield all non-trivial conservation laws unless the symmetry action on the set of these conservation laws is transitive, property which cannot be verified until all conservation laws have been determined. It is worth highlighting the symmetry multi-reduction method [
39], which is a generalization of the double reduction method [
40,
41,
42]. The method proposed in [
39] gives an explicit algorithm for PDEs with
independent variables admitting a symmetry algebra whose dimension is at least
that allows us to find all symmetry-invariant conservation laws, which will reduce to first integrals for the ODE that describe the symmetry-invariant solutions of the PDE.
In [
43], the following generalized BBMB equations with power functions were studied
Lie symmetries were used to reduce the equation into ordinary differential equations (ODEs) in order to obtain new solutions. Furthermore, conservation laws were obtained for special values of the parameters. Here we similarly analyse Equation (
2). In fact, considering
and changing
to
in Equation (
3), the one-dimensional version of Equation (
2) arises.
The aim of this paper is to analyse Equation (
2) from the viewpoint of Lie symmetries, conservation laws and analytical solutions. First, in
Section 2, we determine a complete classification of the point symmetries admitted by PDE (
2) depending on the arbitrary parameters
,
,
and
f and the arbitrary function
. In
Section 3, we use the one-dimensional point symmetry groups admitted by Equation (
2) to reduce the PDE into ODEs. Then, in
Section 4, exact solutions are obtained by using Kudryashov method. In
Section 5, by using the multipliers method, a complete classification of the low-order conservation laws of PDE (
6) has been achieved. In
Section 6, we obtain line soliton solutions
, where
and
represent the direction and the speed of propagation of the line soliton. Taking into account the line soliton formulation into PDE (
2), a nonlinear third-order ODE for
h is obtained. This equation is reduced to a second-order ODE through the corresponding differential invariants. Moreover, the second-order ODE can be easily integrated that leads to its complete quadrature. Undoing the change of variables we obtain a first-order separable ODE which can be integrated to determine the analytical expression of the line soliton solutions. Finally, in
Section 7, we present the conclusions.
2. Lie Point Symmetries
To determine the Lie point symmetries of PDE (
2), we consider a one-parameter group of infinitesimal transformations in
given by
where
is the group parameter. An admitted infinitesimal generator is of the form
We recall that a group of transformations (
4) is a Lie point symmetry of PDEEquation (
2) if and only if the solution space of PDE Equation (
2) is invariant under the action of the one-parameter group of point transformations (
4). Lie’s fundamental theorems prove that Lie groups of transformations are entirely characterized by their infinitesimal generators. An infinitesimal formulation of Lie groups of transformations is crucial since it replaces nonlinear conditions of invariance of a given DE by equivalent, albeit far simpler, linear conditions which determine the infinitesimal generators of the group. Furthermore, for a given DE, the essential applications of Lie groups only need knowledge of the admitted infinitesimal generators. For further information one can refer, for example, to references [
19,
20,
21,
23]. For the sake of simplicity, it is helpful to introduce the function
. Therefore, Equation (
2) becomes
Point symmetries are determined by applying the symmetry invariance criterion [
19,
20,
21,
23], which requires that
when Equation (
6) holds. Here,
represents the third prolongation of the infinitesimal generator (
5), which is given by
with coefficients
with
D the total derivative operator,
,
with
,
and
, and
for
. The invariance condition (
7) splits with respect to the differential consequences of
u, yielding a set of 64 determining equations. By simplifying this system, we obtain
,
,
,
, and the parameters
,
and
f along with the arbitrary function
are related by the following conditions:
The determining system has been derived and solved with the aid of Maple commands “rifsimp” and “pdsolve”. Moreover, it should be noted that the gBBMB Equation (
6) are preserved under the equivalence transformation given by
with
k constant. So we obtain the result:
Theorem 1. The classification of point symmetries admitted by the gBBMB Equation (6) depending on the arbitrary constants α, γ and f, and the arbitrary function is given by the following cases: - (i)
For arbitrary α, γ, f and the admitted point symmetries are generated by: - (ii)
Extra point symmetries of the gBBMB Equation (6) are admitted in the following cases: - (a)
If and
- (b)
If and - (c)
If and - (d)
where and satisfies, respectively,
In the above, , , are arbitrary constants.
3. Symmetry Reductions
In this section, we will restrict our attention to those cases where
. By using the point symmetries admitted by PDE (
6), we can reduce PDE (
6) to an equation with fewer number of independent variables. Each point symmetry of PDE (
6) leads to a characteristic system
Solving the characteristic equations, one obtains similarity variables
z and
r, and similarity solutions
. The substitution of these variables into PDE (
6) leads to third-order nonlinear PDEs for
. In general, it is not always possible to determine all the possible group-invariant solutions, since the Lie symmetry group of a given PDE can contain an infinite number of Lie subgroups. The aim is to classify all the feasible group-invariant solutions into classes in a way that solutions belonging to the same class are equivalent, i.e., these solutions are related through an element of the Lie symmetry group; vice versa, solutions belonging to different classes are not equivalent and therefore there exists no element of the Lie symmetry group that maps one solution into the other. To address this problem, we will find an optimal system of one-dimensional subalgebras [
23,
44]. For that purpose, it is very useful to determine the most general symmetry Lie algebra that PDE (
6) admits depending on the arbitrary function
and the arbitrary parameters
,
and
f. The following theorem shows a basis of generators for each maximal Lie algebra admitted by PDE (
6).
Theorem 2. The maximal Lie algebras for PDE (6), with , along with their non-zero commutator structure are given by: - 1.
For arbitrary α, γ, f and - 2.
If , and - 3.
If and - 4.
If and - 5.
If and
Theorem 3. For the gBBMB Equation (6), with , an optimal system of one-dimensional subalgebras for each maximal Lie algebra is given by: - 1.
For arbitrary α, γ, f and - 2.
If , and - 3.
If and - 4.
If and - 5.
If and
In the above, ν, μ, λ and σ are arbitrary constants.
Now, taking into account the optimal system of one-dimensional subalgebras for each maximal Lie algebra given in Theorem 3, we will consider some one-dimensional reductions which allow us to transform PDE (
6) into PDEs in 1+1-dimensions. Moreover, since these PDEs admit symmetry groups, we can reduce the number of independent variables again to obtain third-order nonlinear ODEs.
3.1. Reduction under
Let us start considering the symmetry generator
, where
and
are constants. Using this symmetry, we reduce (
6) to a PDE with two independent variables. The symmetry gives the invariants
Using these invariants, Equation (
6) reduces to
which admits the symmetries
The symmetry
, with
constant, provides the invariants
and therefore PDE (
11) transforms to the third-order nonlinear ODE
Taking
, Equation (
14) can be written as follows
where
.
3.2. Reduction under
Now, we consider the symmetry
. This symmetry produces the invariants
where
verifies
PDE (
17) admits symmetries (
12). Taking into account invariants (
13), PDE (
17) is transformed into the third-order nonlinear ODE
3.3. Reduction under
Consider the symmetry
. This symmetry yields the invariants
where
satisfies
This equation admits symmetries (
12). From
one obtains the invariants (
13). Taking into account invariants (
13), PDE (
20) is transformed into the third-order nonlinear ODE
3.4. Reduction under
Consider the symmetry
. This symmetry produces the invariants
where
must satisfy
PDE (
23) admits symmetries (
12). By considering invariants (
13), PDE (
23) is transformed into the third-order nonlinear ODE
3.5. Reduction under
Consider the symmetry
. This symmetry yields the invariants
where
satisfies
This equation admits symmetries (
12). Taking into account invariants (
13), PDE (
26) is transformed into the third-order nonlinear ODE
4. Exact Solutions via Kudryashov’s Method
In this section, we determine the function
G for which Equation (
6) admits solutions which are obtained by employing the Kudryashov’s method [
8]. Kudryashov [
6] called the simplest equation to any nonlinear ordinary differential equation of lesser order than the original equation with a known general solution.
If
is a solution of Equation (
28), then the equation
has special solutions that are expressed via the general solution of Equation (
28). It was proved by differentiating Equation (
28) with respect to
z and substituting
from Equation (
28) into expressions obtained.
Equation (
15), with
and
, can be written in the same form that Equation (
29) by considering
Thus, Equation (
15) has special solutions that are expressed via the general solution of Riccati Equation (
28).
In order to apply the Kudryashov’s method to the nonlinear PDE in 1+1-dimensions (
11), the first step is to reduce the nonlinear PDE into a nonlinear ODE, which we have already done using Lie symmetries in the previous section. Thus, we consider the ODE (
15), which can be written in the form
where
,
,
and
. We suppose that the solution of ODE (
30) can be expressed in terms of a polynomial of the form
where
satisfies the first-order nonlinear ODE
,
, are constants to be determined later,
. We note that the solution of (
32) is
Considering the homogeneous balance between
and
in (
30), we obtain:
We consider
and
then we can write (
31) as
with
. In the following we determine
,
. We substitute
and
expressions in Equation (
30). Equating each coefficient of
,
, to zero, yields a set of simultaneous algebraic equations for
.
Solving system (
35) for
and
, we obtain the set of solutions:
Consequently, the solution of Equation (
30) with
and
is
If
is a solution of Equation (
37) then the equation
has special solutions that are expressed via the general solution of Equation (
37). It was proved on similar lines given above.
Equation (
15), with
and
, can be written in the same form that of Equation (
38) by considering
Thus, Equation (
15) has special solutions that are expressed via the general solution of Jacobi Equation (
37).
If
,
,
and
are the roots of
then Equation (
37) with
b and
c given in (
39) is
By a transformation [
6], its solution could be written in terms of the Jacobi elliptic function sn(mq, k), where sn is the elliptic sine function.
If
is a solution of Equation (
41), then the equation
has special solutions that are expressed via the general solution of Equation (
41). It was proved on similar lines given above.
Equation (
15), with
and
, can be written in the same form that Equation (
42) by considering
Thus, Equation (
15) has special solutions that are expressed via the general solution of Weierstrass Equation (
41).
5. Conservation Laws
We construct conservation laws for the
-dimensional generalized BBMB Equation (
6) by employing the multiplier method [
23,
34]. First, we determine low-order multipliers
admitted by the Equation (
6). Recall that multipliers
for the equation under study (
6) are obtained from the following equation known as the determining equation
which holds off of the set of solutions of Equation (
6) and where
is the Euler operator with respect to the variable
u [
20].
Splitting Equation (
44) with respect to
u and its derivatives, we obtain a determining system depending on the arbitrary parameters
and the arbitrary function
which Equation (
6) involves. We solve the determining system by using “rifsimp” and “pdsolve” commands in Maple, and we determine the following classification for the low-order multipliers (
43). We obtain the following result.
Theorem 4. The low-order multipliers of differential order zero (43) admitted by the (2+1)-dimensional generalized BBMB Equation (6) depending on the arbitrary constants , f and an arbitrary function are given in the cases: - (i)
For arbitrary f and , and , γ verifying , with any fixed real constant, the admitted multipliers are: - (ii)
For arbitrary f and , and , γ verifying , with any fixed real constant, the admitted multipliers are: - (iii)
For , , arbitrary f and , the admitted multipliers are: - (iv)
For , , arbitrary f and , the admitted multipliers are and
In the above, and are arbitrary functions of their arguments.
A local conservation law for the (2+1)-dimensional generalized BBMB Equation (
6) is a divergence expression of the form
that holds for the solutions
of Equation (
6), and where
and
denote the total derivative operators with respect to
and
y, respectively.
T is a function called conserved density, and
are functions called spatial fluxes. All these functions depend on
and derivatives of
u.
Using the multipliers obtained previously (Theorem 4), we can calculate the conservation laws by integrating the following equation, called the characteristic equation,
or via an homotopy formula [
33]. We obtain the following result.
Theorem 5. Low-order conservation laws (55) admitted by the (2+1)-dimensional generalized BBMB Equation (6) depending on the arbitrary constants and f and an arbitrary function are given by: - (i)
For arbitrary f and , and , γ verifying , with any fixed real constant, the admitted conservation laws are: - (ii)
For arbitrary f and , and , γ verifying , with any fixed real constant, the admitted conservation laws are: - (iii)
For , , arbitrary f and , the admitted conservation laws are: - (iv)
For , , arbitrary f and , the admitted conservation laws are:
In the above, and are arbitrary functions of their arguments.
6. Line Soliton Solution
Consider
,
, where
,
and
are arbitrary constants, and the two-dimensional subalgebra spanned by
which satisfies
. By applying the abelian subalgebra (
67), the (2+1)-dimensional generalized BBMB Equation (
6) can be reduced into a nonlinear third-order ODE through the use of two independent invariants
z and
h satisfying
The group invariant solution
is a line travelling wave. The amplitude
h of a line travelling wave is invariant under translations in the perpendicular direction. The solution (
70) depends on two parameters,
shows the direction of the wave propagation, i.e., the inclination of the line travelling wave in the
-plane, with
the angle from the positive
y-axis in counterclockwise direction, and where
is the speed of the line wave. We are interested in line travelling waves whose amplitude exhibits exponential asymptotic decay for large
. These line travelling waves are known as line solitons. The group-invariant solution (
70) transforms Equation (
6) into the nonlinear ODE given by
For arbitrary
n,
and
, ODE (
71) only admits the obvious point symmetry (invariance under translations in
z)
The differential invariants corresponding to the infinitesimal generator
V (
72) are
After substituting invariants (
73) into the third-order ODE (
71) one finds that
verifies the second-order ODE
Fortunately, Equation (
74) can be readily integrated to yield
with
arbitrary constant. Integrating again Equation (
75) with respect to
, we obtain the general solution of Equation (
74), which is given by
We recall that we look for a localized smooth solution such that
as
. This implies
. Undoing change of variables (
73), one obtains
Equation (
77) is a separable first-order ODE. Suppose
, after separating and integrating, one obtains
where
is an arbitrary constant. Note that
is smooth in
and vanishes as
.
Thus, for
we have Equation (
78) is a smooth solution in
z which asymptotically decays to 0 as
. Finally, undoing change of variable (
69) one obtains a line soliton solution for PDE (
6) given by
In
Figure 1, it is represented the line soliton solution (
79) considering
,
,
,
,
,
and
, for some fixed values of
t. Here, it can be seen how the amplitude of the line soliton presents exponential asymptotic decay for large
.