Saddle-node of limit cycles in planar piecewise linear systems and applications (Q2000208)

In this paper, the bifurcation of a Lipschitz continuous piecewise linear system, which has three linear zones separated by two parallel lines and a linear center in the middle zone, is well investigated. By a careful computation of the Poincaré map, it is shown that the number of limit cycles bifurcating from the periodic orbit changes from two to zero as the parameter varies. Moreover, such result can be applied to a piecewise linear version of the FitzHugh-Nagumo neuron model of spike generation and an electronic circuit, the memristor oscillator.