Linearizing systems of second-order ODEs via symmetry generators spanning a simple subalgebra (Q385591)

The main result of this paper states that if a system of \(n\) second-order ordinary differential equations admits \(2(n-1)\) symmetries of a certain type then it is necessarily of maximal symmetry, the symmetry Lie algebra being isomorphic to \(\mathfrak{sl}(n+2, \mathbb{R})\). Although these symmetries do not close as a Lie algebra, they generate a subalgebra of the full symmetry algebra \(\mathcal{L}\) of point symmetries isomorphic to the simple Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{sl}(n, \mathbb{R})\). The main feature of this subalgebra is that it exhausts the symmetry generators the components of which depend only on the dependent variables, \(x_i\), \(1\leq i\leq n\). In addition, it is proved that if the given system admits \(\mathfrak{sl}(n-1, \mathbb{R})\) as a subalgebra of symmetries, then \(\dim \mathcal{L}\geq n^2-1\) and \(\mathcal{L}\) contains the double inhomogeneous Lie algebra \(II\mathfrak{sl}(n-1, \mathbb{R})\). A family of systems having exactly the latter as full symmetry algebra is given.