From canards of folded singularities to torus canards in a forced van der Pol equation (Q266425)

The authors study the emergence of canard solutions [\textit{E. Benoit} et al., Collect. Math. 32, 37--119 (1981; Zbl 0529.34046)] in a prototypical forced van-der-Pol equation [\textit{M. L. Cartwright} and \textit{J. E. Littlewood}, J. Lond. Math. Soc. 20, 180--189 (1945; Zbl 0061.18903)] in the relaxation limit, upon variation of the strength of the periodic forcing. They demonstrate that, in the low-frequency forcing regime, canards emerge due to the presence of a folded saddle-node of type I [\textit{M. Krupa} and \textit{M. Wechselberger}, J. Differ. Equations 248, No. 12, 2841--2888 (2010; Zbl 1198.34103)]. By contrast, in the intermediate-frequency and high-frequency regimes, the forced van-der-Pol equation possesses so-called torus canards [\textit{M. A. Kramer} et al., ``New dynamics in cerebellar Purkinje cells: torus canards'', Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, No. 6, Article ID 068103, 4 p. (2008; \url{doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.068103})], which consist of orbit segments near families of attracting and repelling limit cycles in the fast system, in alternation. In all three forcing regimes, the authors derive explicit asymptotic estimates for the parameter values at which the corresponding maximal canards -- and their folds -- exist. They show that these estimates are, in fact, representations of one single formula under appropriate rescalings, which confirms their central numerical observation of two branches of canard solutions extending across all positive forcing frequencies. The authors then investigate secondary canards which are induced by folded singularities in the low-frequency regime, finding that their folds do not extend to high frequencies, turning around in the intermediate-frequency regime instead; in particular, they identify the underlying mechanism, and they highlight the resulting mixed-mode oscillatory dynamics [\textit{M. Desroches} et al., SIAM Rev. 54, No. 2, 211--288 (2012; Zbl 1250.34001)]. Finally, they prove that the forced van-der-Pol equation represents a normal form for a class of periodically forced fast-slow systems with two fast variables and one slow variable which possess a non-degenerate fold of limit cycles. Their analysis is based on a wealth of dynamical systems techniques, such as geometric desingularisation (``blow-up'') [\textit{F. Dumortier} and \textit{R. Roussarie}, Mem. Am. Math. Soc. 577, 100 p. (1996; Zbl 0851.34057)], invariant manifold theory, Melnikov theory, averaging, and normal form techniques, as well as on the numerical continuation approach developed in [\textit{M. Desroches} et al., Nonlinearity 23, No. 3, 739--765 (2010; Zbl 1191.34072)].