Continuous symmetries of difference equations.

Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2011.We consider the study of symmetry analysis of difference equations. The original work done by Lie about a century ago is known to be one of the best methods of solving differential equations. Lie's theory of difference equations on the contrary, was only first explored about twenty years ago. In 1984, Maeda [42] constructed the similarity methods for difference equations. Some work has been done in the field of symmetries of difference equations for the past years. Given an ordinary or partial differential equation (PDE), one can apply Lie algebra techniques to analyze the problem. It is commonly known that the number of independent variables can be reduced after the symmetries of the equation are obtained. One can determine the optimal system of the equation in order to get a reduction of the independent variables. In addition, using the method, one can obtain new solutions from known ones. This feature is interesting because some differential equations have apparently useless trivial solutions, but applying Lie symmetries to them, more interesting solutions are obtained. The question arises when it happens that our equation contains a discrete quantity. In other words, we aim at investigating steps to be performed when we have a difference equation. Doing so, we find symmetries of difference equations and use them to linearize and reduce the order of difference equations. In this work, we analyze the work done by some researchers in the field and apply their results to some examples. This work will focus on the topical review of symmetries of difference equations and going through that will enable us to make some contribution to the field in the near future