Analyzing Lie symmetry and constructing conservation laws for time-fractional Benny–Lin equation

Abstract

This paper investigates the invariance properties of the time fractional Benny–Lin equation with Riemann–Liouville and Caputo derivatives. This equation can be reduced to the Kawahara equation, fifth-order Kdv equation, the Kuramoto–Sivashinsky equation and Navier–Stokes equation. By using the Lie group analysis method of fractional differential equations (FDEs), we derive Lie symmetries for the Benny–Lin equation. Conservation laws for this equation are obtained with the aid of the concept of nonlinear self-adjointness and the fractional generalization of the Noether’s operators. Furthermore, by means of the invariant subspace method, exact solutions of the equation are also constructed.