On Melnikov functions of a homoclinic loop through a nilpotent saddle for planar near-Hamiltonian systems (Q935134)

The paper considers a planar near-Hamiltonian system \[ \begin{aligned} \dot x&=\tilde H_y+\varepsilon f(x,y,a),\\ \dot y&=-\tilde H_x+\varepsilon g(x,y,a), \end{aligned} \eqno (F)_{\varepsilon} \] where \(f\), \(g\) and \(\tilde H\) are \(C^{\infty}\) functions, \(\varepsilon\) is a small parameter and \(a\in\mathbb R^n\) is a parameter vector. The unperturbed system \((F)_{\varepsilon =0}\) is supposed to have a family of period orbits \(\{\Gamma_h\}=\{(x,y):\tilde H=h\}\). A first-order Melnikov function is defined as \[ M(h,a)=\oint_{\Gamma_h}fdy-gdx. \] The asymptotic expansion of \(M(h,a)\) is an essential ingredient for the study of bifurcation problems of \((F)_{\varepsilon}\). The paper considers the first-order Melnikov function of a homoclinic loop through a nilpotent saddle. The asymptotic expansion of this Melnikov function and formulas for its first coefficients are given. The number of limit cycles which appear near the homoclinic loop is discussed by using the asymptotic expansion of the first-order Melnikov function. An example is presented as an application of the main results.