Contour integrals as Ad-invariant functions on the fundamental group (Q1028265)

The author studies some contour integrals that appear naturally in the theory of limit cycles of polynomial vector fields. He introduces a general approach to these integrals, which is useful in the study of Abelian integrals, of Melnikov integrals, and of generalized Abelian integrals. Generalized Abelian integrals appear in the study of polynomial perturbations of multi-dimensional systems with invariant planes on which they are Hamiltonian. Estimating the number of zeroes of such contour integrals is important in the study of the infinitesimal Hilbert 16th problem and its generalizations. The author introduces a relation between the generalized Abelian integral and a certain upper triangular representation of the fundamental group of the associated complex level curve. From this description he obtains results on the monodromy of generalized Abelian integrals. He proves that this generalized Abelian integral does not satisfy any linear differential equation of finite order, and thus, generalized Abelian integrals are essentially different from Abelian integrals and higher order Melnikov functions.