How Scaling Symmetry Solves a Second-Order Differential Equation

arXiv1212.0179MaRDI QIDQ6237665FDOQ6237665

Authors: Sidney Bludman, Andres Guzman, Dallas C. Kennedy 

Publication date: 1 December 2012

Abstract: While not generally a conservation law, any symmetry of the equations of motion implies a useful reduction of any second-order equationto a first-order equation between invariants, whose solutions (first integrals) can then be integrated by quadrature (Lie's Theorem on the solvability of differential equations). We illustrate this theorem by applying scale invariance to the equations for the hydrostatic equilibrium of stars in local thermodynamic equilibrium: Scaling symmetry reduces the Lane-Emden equation to a first-order equation between scale invariants un; vn, whose phase diagram encapsulates all the properties of index-n polytropes. From this reduced equation, we obtain the regular (Emden) solutions and demonstrate graphically how they transform under scale transformations.

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