Symmetries and exact solutions of a class of nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger equations with self-induced parity-time-symmetric potential

A class of nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger equations (NLSEs) is considered in an external potential with a space-time modulated coefficient of the nonlinear interaction term as well as confining and/or loss-gain terms. This is a generalization of a recently introduced integrable nonlocal NLSE with self-induced potential that is parity-time-symmetric in the corresponding stationary problem. Exact soliton solutions are obtained for the inhomogeneous and/or nonautonomous nonlocal NLSE by using similarity transformation, and the method is illustrated with a few examples. It is found that only those transformations are allowed for which the transformed spatial coordinate is odd under the parity transformation of the original one. It is shown that the nonlocal NLSE without the external potential and a $\left(d+1\right)$-dimensional generalization of it admits all the symmetries of the $\left(d+1\right)$-dimensional Schrödinger group. The conserved Noether charges associated with the time translation, dilatation, and special conformal transformation are shown to be real-valued in spite of being non-Hermitian. Finally, the dynamics of different moments are studied with an exact description of the time evolution of the “pseudowidth” of the wave packet for the special case in which the system admits a $O(2,1)$ conformal symmetry.