Numerical computation of connecting orbits on a manifold (Q1762496)

This paper is devoted to the numerical approximation of connecting orbits of parameterized dynamical systems described by differential equations on manifolds. The authors consider a continuous-time dynamical system defined by \[ \dot x = f(x,\lambda),\quad x\in \mathcal M,\quad\lambda\in \mathbb R^p, \tag{1} \] where \(\mathcal M\) is a smooth manifold and \(f(x,\lambda)\in T_x\mathcal M\) for all \((x,\lambda)\in \mathcal M\times \mathbb R^p\). In this paper, the manifold \(\mathcal M\) is defined by a scalar equation of the form \(g(x)=0\). Therefore, the system (1) is treated as a system of differential-algebraic equations (DAEs). Furthermore, under certain assumptions, the system (1) is equivalent to a DAE system of index one. The main aim of the paper is to study a numerical method for approximating the connecting orbits (homoclinic and heteroclinic) for (1) and the corresponding bifurcation parameters. First, the authors extend the standard nondegeneracy concept of a connecting orbit with respect to the parameter from ordinary differential equations (ODEs) to these particular DAEs. Then, they construct a well-posed system such that the connecting orbit pair is a regular solution of this extended system. Next, techniques for approximating the connecting orbits that are well-known for ODEs are extended to ODEs on manifolds. Namely, the connecting orbits are truncated to finite intervals by modified projection boundary conditions. The existence of truncated solutions and error estimations are analysed. Finally, by using some popular discretization methods such as explicit Euler, implicit midpoint Runge-Kutta, and two-stage Runge-Kutta-Gauss formulas, numerical experiments are carried out for illustration.