Linear ODEs and \(\mathcal D\)-modules, solving and decomposing equations using symmetry methods (Q1780383)

Sophus Lie, the Norwegian mathematician, in the nineteenth century introduced the symmetry approach to reduce and solve differential equations. The lengthy paper under review presents a study of linear homogeneous ordinary differential equations (ODEs) in the spirit of Lie. The main results are methods for decomposition and solution of such equations with solvable and semisimple Lie algebras of symmetries. Differential modules or \(D\)-modules are associated to linear ODEs. It is shown that these equations form a monoidal category with respect to the tensor product of modules. Symmetries are viewed as endomorphisms of the \(D\)-modules which enable a direct application of the results from the representation theory of Lie algebras. It is proved that for a number of linear equations, one can deduce solutions through algebraic methods and quadrature. Here, there is no requirement on the dimension of the symmetry algebra to be equal to the order of the equation. Rather, the ability to solve the equation depends on eigenvalues and weights of the representation of the symmetry algebra into the relevant module of endomorphisms. In some cases a single symmetry is enough to solve an equation through eigenvalue decomposition and quadrature.