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The nonlinear dynamics of self-bound Bose–Einstein matter waves under the action of an attractive nonlocal and a repulsive local interaction is analyzed by means of a time-dependent variational formalism. The mean-field model described by the Gross–Pitaevskii equation (GPE) is reduced to a single second-order conservative ordinary differential equation admitting a potential function. The stable fixed points and the linear oscillation frequencies of the breather modes are determined. The chosen nonlocal interactions are a Gaussian-shaped potential and a van der Waals-like potential. The variational solutions are compared with direct numerical simulations of the GPE, for each of these nonlocalities. The spatio-temporal frequency spectra of linear waves are also determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article brings to light the fact that linearity is by itself a meaningful symmetry in the senses of Lie and Noether. First, the role played by that ‘linearity symmetry’ in the quadrature of linear second-order differential equations is revisited through the use of adapted variables and the identification of a conserved quantity as Lie invariant. Second, the celebrated Caldirola–Kanai Lagrangian—from which the differential equation is deducible—is shown to be naturally generated by a Jacobi last multiplier inherited from the linearity symmetry. Then, the latter is recognised to be also a Noether one. Finally, the study is extended to higher-order linear differential equations, derivable or not from an action principle. Incidentally, this work can serve as an introduction to the central question of continuous symmetries in physics and mathematics. It has the advantage of being approachable to undergraduate students since the linearity symmetry is by its very nature sufficiently simple to be treatable without any use of Lie generators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A didactic and systematic derivation of Noether point symmetries and conserved currents is put forward in special relativistic field theories, without a priori assumptions about the transformation laws. Given the Lagrangian density, the invariance condition develops as a set of partial differential equations determining the symmetry transformation. The solution is provided in the case of real scalar, complex scalar, free electromagnetic, and charged electromagnetic fields. Besides the usual conservation laws, a less popular symmetry is analyzed: the symmetry associated with the linear superposition of solutions, whenever applicable. The role of gauge invariance is emphasized. The case of the charged scalar particle under external electromagnetic fields is considered, and the accompanying Noether point symmetries determined. Noether point symmetries for a dynamical system in extended gravity cosmology are also deduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]