  We suggest a systematic procedure for classifying partial differential
equations invariant with respect to low dimensional Lie algebras. This
procedure is a proper synthesis of the infinitesimal Lie's method, technique of
equivalence transformations and theory of classification of abstract low
dimensional Lie algebras. As an application, we consider the problem of
classifying heat conductivity equations in one variable with nonlinear
convection and source terms. We have derived a complete classification of
nonlinear equations of this type admitting nontrivial symmetry. It is shown
that there are three, seven, twenty eight and twelve inequivalent classes of
partial differential equations of the considered type that are invariant under
the one-, two-, three- and four-dimensional Lie algebras, correspondingly.
Furthermore, we prove that any partial differential equation belonging to the
class under study and admitting symmetry group of the dimension higher than
four is locally equivalent to a linear equation. This classification is
compared to existing group classifications of nonlinear heat conductivity
equations and one of the conclusions is that all of them can be obtained within
the framework of our approach. Furthermore, a number of new invariant equations
are constructed which have rich symmetry properties and, therefore, may be used
for mathematical modeling of, say, nonlinear heat transfer processes.
