A simple model of thermoelectric oscillations (Q1900684)

The authors consider the system of equations \[ \dot x= 1- x- \alpha\times s(y),\quad \dot y= \eta(x^2 s(y)- \beta y),\tag{1} \] where \(s(y)\in C^2(\mathbb{R}^1)\) and \(s(y)\geq s_m> 0\) for all \(y\geq 0\); \(\alpha\), \(\beta\), \(\eta\) are all positive. The system (1) of ordinary differential equations models an electric circuit with a special resistor called ``thermistor'' whose conductance is a function of the temperature, an ordinary resistor and a capacitor. The authors establish some facts concerning the system (1). For example, they find the conditions under which time-periodic solutions cannot exist, in particular this would be the case when the derivative of the thermistor conductance \(\sigma\) with respect to the temperature \(u\) is less than zero \((d\sigma/du< 0)\). Also they study the local stability of stationary points and existence of periodic solutions.