The unified transform for linear, linearizable and integrable nonlinear partial differential equations

Abstract

So-called inverse scattering provides a powerful method for analyzing the initial value problem for a large class of nonlinear evolution partial differential equations which are called integrable. In the late 1990s, the first author, motivated by inverse scattering, introduced a new method for analyzing boundary value problems. This method provides a unified treatment for linear, linearizable and integrable nonlinear partial differential equations. Here, this method, which is often referred to as the unified transform, is illustrated for the following concrete cases: the heat equation on the half-line; the nonlinear Schrödinger equation on the half-line; Burger's equation on the half-line; and Burger's equation on a moving boundary.