A semi-algorithm to find elementary first order invariants of rational second order ordinary differential equations (Q870108)

This paper is concerned with the explicit calculation (up to a certain polynomial degree) of first order invariants in rational second order differential equations \[ y''= M(x,y,y')/N(x,y,y'), \tag{1} \] where \(M\) and \(N\) are polynomials in \( x, y , y', \) provided that there exist such an integral. The authors propose a semi-algorithmic approach closely related to the one used by \textit{M. J. Prelle} and \textit{M. F. Singer} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 279, 215--229 (1983; Zbl 0527.12016)] for a first order equation \( y' = R(x,y)\) where \(R\) is a rational function of its arguments that allows to obtain a solution in terms of elementary functions that can be computed after a sufficient number of steps. Several theoretical results on the form of first order invariants of (1), provided that they exist, are given leading to a calculation of them. Finally, some examples as well as remarks about the explicit computation are also given.