On the geometry of \(y^{(4)}=f(x,y,y^{\prime },y^{\prime\prime },y^{\prime\prime\prime })\) (Q855447)

The authors analyze for fourth-order ordinary differential equations the equivalence problem by contact transformations. Studying the corresponding Pfaffian systems, they obtain the corresponding invariants that play the same role in order four as does the well-known Wuenschmann invariant for order three. It is proven that the equation is equivalent to \(y^{(4)}=0\) by means of contact transformations exactly when it admits an eight-parametric contact symmetry group. This work shows the wide range of applicability of the geometry of forms to differential equations, and illustrates that many nontrivial problems can be approached sometimes better and in more elegant way than by traditional analytic methods.