Lie symmetries and reductions of multi-dimensional boundary value problems of the Stefan type

A new definition of Lie invariance for nonlinear multi-dimensional boundary value problems (BVPs) is proposed by the generalization of known definitions to much wider classes of BVPs. The class of (1+3)-dimensional nonlinear BVPs of the Stefan type, modeling the process of melting and evaporation of metals, is studied in detail. Using the definition proposed, the group classification problem for this class of BVPs is solved and some reductions (with physical meaning) to BVPs of lower dimensionality are made. Examples of how to construct exact solutions of the (1+3)-dimensional nonlinear BVP with the correctly-specified coefficients are presented.