Stability of dynamical systems in the plane (Q2644826)

The authors investigate the stability and the asymptotic stability of an ordinary differential equation in the plane, \(\dot x(t)=A(t)x(t)+h(t,x(t)),\) where \(A(t)=(a_{ij}(t))\), \(i,j=1,2\), is a square matrix and \(h(t,x)=(h_ 1(t,x),h_ 2(t,x))\) is a vector. The above system is first transformed into an equation with complex conjugate coordinates, \(\dot z=az+b\bar z.\) This transformed system is then studied using a Lyapunov-like function. The stability results obtained are tested on basic mathematical models which represent damped oscillatory phenomena. In this case the result is more general than the results of \textit{Z. Artstein} and \textit{E. F. Infante} [Quart. Appl. Math. 34, 195-199 (1976; Zbl 0336.34048)] and \textit{T. Tatarkiewicz} [Ann. Univ. Mariae Curie-Skłodowska, Sect. A 7, 19-81 (1954; Zbl 0058.071)].