Lump-type solutions of a generalized Kadomtsev–Petviashvili equation in (3+1)-dimensions

Through the Hirota bilinear formulation and the symbolic computation software Maple, we construct lump-type solutions for a generalized (3+1)-dimensional Kadomtsev–Petviashvili (KP) equation in three cases of the coefficients in the equation. Then the sufficient and necessary conditions to guarantee the analyticity of the resulting lump-type solutions (or the positivity of the corresponding quadratic solutions to the associated bilinear equation) are discussed. To illustrate the generality of the obtained solutions, two concrete lump-type solutions are explicitly presented, and to analyze the dynamic behaviors of the solutions specifically, the three-dimensional plots and contour profiles of these two lump-type solutions with particular choices of the involved free parameters are well displayed. (paper)