Benjamin–Bona–Mahony Equation with Variable Coefficients: Conservation Laws

• Main Authors: Ben Muatjetjeja, Chaudry Masood Khalique
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2014-12-01
• Series: Symmetry
• Subjects: Benjamin–Bona–Mahony equation with variable coefficients; lagrangian; noether operators; conservation laws
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/2073-8994/6/4/1026

This paper aims to construct conservation laws for a Benjamin–Bona–Mahony equation with variable coefficients, which is a third-order partial differential equation. This equation does not have a Lagrangian and so we transform it to a fourth-order partial differential equation, which has a Lagrangian. The Noether approach is then employed to construct the conservation laws. It so happens that the derived conserved quantities fail to satisfy the divergence criterion and so one needs to make adjustments to the derived conserved quantities in order to satisfy the divergence condition. The conservation laws are then expressed in the original variable. Finally, a conservation law is used to obtain exact solution of a special case of the Benjamin–Bona–Mahony equation.