Master's project seminar: Tom van Rees (during Gravity/Cosmo lunch seminar)

Title:
Point symmetries of partial differential equations

Abstract:
Point symmetries of partial differential equations are transformations that turn solutions of the differential equation into new solutions. Such point symmetries can be used to find new solutions and provide insight about physically allowed transformations. Existing methods for finding point symmetries can only find local symmetries, while us physicists are also interested in symmetries that hold globally. In this talk, the methods to obtain these point symmetries are explained, alongside their limitations. This is followed up with a discussion on why certain point symmetry transformations are only valid locally, while other transformations also hold globally.