Symmetries of a class of nonlinear third-order partial differential equations (Q1368559)

Symmetry reductions of the following class of nonlinear third-order partial differential equations \[ u_t-\varepsilon u_{xxt}+2\kappa u_x-u u_{xxx}-\alpha u u_x-\beta u_x u_{xx}=0 \] with four arbitrary constants \(\varepsilon,\kappa,\alpha,\beta\) are considered. This class has previously been studied by \textit{C. Gilson} and \textit{A. Pickering} [Phys. A, Math. Gen. 28, 2871-2888 (1995; Zbl 0830.35127)] using Painlevé theory. It contains as special cases the Fornberg-Whitham, the Rosenau-Hyman, and the Camassa-Holm equation. The authors apply besides the standard symmetry approach also the non-classical method of \textit{G. W. Bluman} and \textit{J. D. Cole} [J. Math. Mech. 18, 1025-1042, (1969; Zbl 0187.03502)]. Using the so-called differential Gröbner bases developed by one of the authors they obtain a symmetry classification of the parameters \(\varepsilon,\kappa,\alpha,\beta\). The computations are done with the help of the Maple package.