Polygons of differential equations for finding exact solutions

A method for finding exact solutions of nonlinear differential equations is presented. Our method is based on the application of polygons corresponding to nonlinear differential equations. It allows one to express exact solutions of the equation studied through solutions of another equation using properties of the basic equation itself. The ideas of power geometry are used and developed. Our approach has a pictorial interpretation, which is illustrative and effective. The method can be also applied for finding transformations between solutions of differential equations. To demonstrate the method application exact solutions of several equations are found. These equations are: the Korteveg-de Vries-Burgers equation, the generalized Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation, the fourth-order nonlinear evolution equation, the fifth-order Korteveg-de Vries equation, the fifth-order modified Korteveg-de Vries equation and the sixth-order nonlinear evolution equation describing turbulent processes. Some new exact solutions of nonlinear evolution equations are given. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.