On the first integrals in the center problem (Q388129)

The following theorem is the main result of the article. Theorem. Let \(H(x,y;\varepsilon)\) be a first integral of the system \[ \dot x= P(x,y;\varepsilon), \, \dot y= Q(x,y;\varepsilon). \] Assume that the first integral has a critical value for \(\varepsilon= \varepsilon_0\), namely \(H(x, y;\varepsilon_0)\) becomes a constant. Let \(k\) be the smallest integer number such that \[ {\partial^k H(x,y; \varepsilon)\over \partial\varepsilon^k}\Biggl|_{\varepsilon= \varepsilon_0}\tag{1} \] is not constant. Then (1) is a first integral of the system \[ \dot x= P(x,y; \varepsilon_0), \, \dot y= Q(x,y; \varepsilon_0). \]