On the complete integrability and linearization of nonlinear ordinary differential equations. V. Linearization of coupled second-order equations

Abstract

Linearization of coupled second-order nonlinear ordinary differential equations (SNODEs) is one of the open and challenging problems in the theory of differential equations. In this paper, we describe a simple and straightforward method to derive linearizing transformations for a class of two coupled SNODEs. Our procedure gives several new types of linearizing transformations of both invertible and non-invertible kinds. In both cases, we provide algorithms to derive the general solution of the given SNODE. We illustrate the theory with potentially important examples.