Generalized cofactors and nonlinear superposition principles

It is known from Lie's works that the only ordinary differential equation of first order in which the knowledge of a certain number of particular solutions allows the construction of a fundamental set of solutions is, excepting changes of variables, the Riccati equation. For planar complex polynomial differential systems, the classical Darboux integrability theory exists based on the fact that a sufficient number of invariant algebraic curves permits the construction of a first integral or an inverse integrating factor. In this paper, we present a generalization of the Darboux integrability theory based on the definition of generalized cofactors. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.