A new variable coefficient Korteweg-de Vries equation-based sub-equation method and its application to the (3 + 1)-dimensional potential-YTSF equation

With the aid of Maple, we present variable coefficient Korteweg-de Vries equation-based sub-equation method. The key idea of our method is to take advantage of the variable coefficient Korteweg-de Vries equation and its various solutions to generate various solutions of nonlinear evolution equations. The efficiency of the method can be demonstrated on the (3 + 1)-dimensional potential-YTSF equation and we construct successfully its new styles of solutions.