On Lie's problem and differential invariants of ODEs \(y'' = F(x,y)\) (Q1707023)

In this paper, the author studies the point classification of the second order ordinary differential equations of the form \(y''=F(x,y)\). One of the main results of the paper is to give the number of independent differential invariants according to the corresponding orders. More precisely, the numbers of independent differential invariants of pure order \(k\) for the action of the pseudogroup \(\widehat{G}_+^{(k)}\) on the \(k\)-jet space \(\mathbf J^k\) admit the following relation: \[ \begin{aligned} \text{ order of invariants }\quad \leq & 3\quad 4\quad 5\quad 6\quad \cdots\quad k \\ \text{ number of invariants }\quad & 0\quad 2\quad 4\quad 6\quad \cdots\quad k-1\end{aligned} \] As an application of the result, the paper gives a description of the algebra of differential invariants for the action of the pseudogroup \(\widehat{G}_+ \) on the space \(C^\infty (\mathbb R^2)\) of smooth functions. Detailed formula are given in Theorem 2 of the paper.