There are three different actions of the unimodular Lie group SL(2, C) on a twodimensional space. In every case, we show how an ordinary differential equation admitting SL(2) as a symmetry group can be reduced in order by three, and the solution recovered from that of the reduced equation via a pair of quadratures and the solution to a linear second order equation. A particular example is the Chazy equation, whose general solution can be expressed as a ratio of two solutions to a hypergeometric equation. The reduction method leads to an alternative formula in terms of solutions to the Lame equation, resulting in a surprising transformation between the Lame and hypergeometric equations. Finally, we discuss the Painleve analysis of the singularities of solutions to the Chazy equation.
1996Academic Press, Inc.It arises in the study of third order ordinary differential equations having the``Painleve property'' that the solutions have only poles for moveable singularities (see also [3,4]). The Chazy equation is important since it is the simplest example of an ordinary differential equation whose solutions