Some novel physical structures of a (2+1)-dimensional variable-coefficient Korteweg–de Vries system

In this paper, we study the novel nonlinear wave structures of a (2+1)-dimensional variable-coefficient Korteweg–de Vries (KdV) system by its analytic solutions. Its N-soliton solutions are obtained via Hirota's bilinear method, and in particular, the hybrid solutions of lump, breather and line solitons are derived by the long wave limit method. In addition to soliton solutions, similarity reduction, including similarity solutions (also known as group-invariant solutions) and novel non-autonomous rational third-order Painlevé equations, is achieved through symmetry analysis. The analytic results, together with illustrative wave interactions, show interesting physical features, that may shed some light on the study of other variable-coefficient nonlinear systems.