Focal values and a class of Poincaré bifurcation of \(E_ n\) (Q1200715)

This interesting note discusses the appearance of limit cycles (not necessarily small) in polynomial perturbations of \(\dot x=-y\), \(\dot y=x\). It is shown that there exists an integer valued function \(M(n)\) such that the vector field \(\dot x=- y+\lambda(\varepsilon)x+\sum_{\alpha+\beta=2}^ n A_{\alpha\beta}(\varepsilon)x^ \alpha y^ \beta\), \(\dot y=x+\lambda(\varepsilon)y +\sum_{\alpha+\beta=2}^ n B_{\alpha\beta}(\varepsilon)x^ \alpha y^ \beta\), where \(\lambda(\varepsilon)\), \(A_{\alpha\beta}(\varepsilon)\), and \(B_{\alpha\beta}(\varepsilon)\) are holomorphic and vanish at \(\varepsilon=0\), has, for small \(\varepsilon\), at most \(M(n)\) limit cycles. The argument depends on the fact that the return map to the positive \(x\)-axis has a simple expression in terms of \(\lambda\) and the focal values, which are polynomials in the \(A_{\alpha\beta}\) and \(B_{\alpha\beta}\). With the aid of the Hilbert basis theorem, the fixed points of the return map can be expressed as the zeros of a function of the form \(\Delta(x,\varepsilon)=2\pi x\varepsilon^ s(g(x)+\varepsilon G(x,\varepsilon))\), \(g\) an even polynomial of degree \(2M(n)\).