Symmetry Lie algebras of \(n\)th order ordinary differential equations (Q2640006)

The Lie algebra of the point symmetries for an nth order (n\(\geq 3)\) linear O.D.E. is studied in the paper. It is proved to have exactly \(n+1\), \(n+2\) or \(n+4\) elements, and in each ase, the corresponding algebras are obtained. Moreover, a necessary and sufficient condition for the linearization of an nth order nonlinear equation is given, in terms of the corresponding Lie algebra.