On a system of two linear-fractional differential equations of order \(n\) with the Painlevé property (Q2461894)

The authors find all systems of the form \[ x^{\prime n}={(a_1x+b_1y+\alpha_1)\over(c_1x+d_1y+\beta_1)},\quad y^{\prime n}={(a_2x+b_2y+\alpha_2)\over(c_2x+d_2y+\beta_2)},\quad n=2,3,\dots, \] with coefficients analytic in \(t\) which enjoy the Painlevé property. These canonical forms are: (1) \({x^{\prime2}=a{x+\alpha\over y+\beta}}+\),\quad \({y^{\prime2}=a{y+\beta\over x+\alpha}}\); (2) \( x^{\prime2}=a(\alpha x+\beta y+\gamma)\),\quad \(y^{\prime2}=b(\alpha x+\beta y+\gamma)\);\quad (3) \( x^{\prime2}=a(\alpha x+\delta)\),\quad \(y^{\prime2}=b(\beta y+\gamma)\);\quad and (4) \( x^{\prime n}=a\),\quad \(y^{\prime n}=b\). In these equations, \(a=a(t)\) and \(b=b(t)\) are analytic in \(t\), while \(\alpha, \beta,\gamma,\delta=\text{const}\). The proof is based on a reduction of the above system to a second-order \(n\)-th degree ODE for \(x\) and the following assertion: if equation \((x''+A(t,x,x'))^n=B(t,x,x')\), with functions \(A,B\) rational in \(x,x'\) and locally analytic in \(t\), has the Painlevé property then \(A\) and \(B\) are polynomials in \(x'\) of degree not exceeding \(2\) and \(2n\), respectively.