Nonlinear partial differential equation

In mathematics and physics, a nonlinear partial differential equation is a partial differential equation with nonlinear terms. They describe many different physical systems, ranging from gravitation to fluid dynamics, and have been used in mathematics to solve problems such as the Poincaré conjecture and the Calabi conjecture. They are difficult to study: almost no general techniques exist that work for all such equations, and usually each individual equation has to be studied as a separate problem.

The distinction between a linear and a nonlinear partial differential equation is usually made in terms of the properties of the operator that defines the PDE itself. Provided by Wikipedia