Monodromy and stability of a class of degenerate planar critical points (Q1614741)

Necessary and sufficient monodromy conditions for a large class of degenerate singular points of planar differential systems are given. For these systems, a computable expression for the principal term of the asymptotic expansion of the return map is found. This determines the stability of the point. The paper ends with the following illustrative example \[ \dot x= bx^2 y+ axy^2- by^3- x^4,\quad\dot y= 4bxy^2+ ay^3+ 2x^5. \] It is shown that the origin is monodromic if \(b>{1\over 4}\), and that it is an attractor if \(a<0\) and a repellor if \(a>0\). If \(b\leq{1\over 4}\), then the origin is not monodromic.