High order Melnikov functions and the problem of uniformity in global bifurcation (Q1199804)

The paper deals with saddle-loop bifurcation in autonomously perturbed planar Hamiltonian systems whose prototype is \((1)_ \varepsilon\) \(\dot x = y\), \(\dot y = x - x^ 2 + \varepsilon g(x,y)\). The number of limit cycles of \((1)_ \varepsilon\) is determined by the number of zeros of the corresponding Melnikov function (2) \(M(h) = \varepsilon M_ 1(h) + \varepsilon^ 2M_ 2(h) + o(\varepsilon^ 2)\) in the interval \(-1/6 < h < 0\), where \(h \in (-1/6,0)\) describes the periodic orbits and \(h = 0\) the homoclinic loop \(\Gamma_ 0\) of \((1)_ 0\). The authors calculate the first and second order Melnikov functions \(M_ 1(h)\), \(M_ 2(h)\), and prove sufficient conditions for \((1)_ \varepsilon\) to possess at most one periodic orbit uniformly with respect to \(\varepsilon \in (0,\varepsilon_ 0)\). Then they construct two examples by explicitly specifying the function \(g(x,y)\) in \((1)_ \varepsilon\), for which the usual first order approximation \(\varepsilon M_ 1(h)\) of (2) yields uniqueness of limit cycles, whereas the second order approximation of (2) surprisingly yields the existence of two limit cycles near \(\Gamma_ 0\). It is thus pointed out that if \((dM_ 1/dh)(0) = 0\), the first order Melnikov function \(M_ 1(h)\) may lead to erroneous results concerning the uniqueness of limit cycles in the whole interval \(-1/6 < h < 0\), uniformly with respect to \(\varepsilon \in (0,\varepsilon_ 0)\).