Nonclassical relaxation oscillations in a mathematical predator-prey model (Q2195142)

The authors study the existence and stability of a nonclassical relaxation cycle in the Bazykin-Svirezhev model describing the interaction of a highly prolific predator with its prey, \begin{align*} \dot N_1&=r_1\left[ 1-\frac{N_1}{K} \right]N_1^2-aN_1N_2,\\ \dot N_2&=r_2\left[ \frac{N_1}{K} -b\right]N_2, \end{align*} where \(N_1(t)\) and \(N_2(t)\) are the predator and prey population sizes, respectively, and \(r_1\), \(r_2\), \(a\), \(b\), and \(K\) are positive parameters. After transforming the state variables and parameters, the singularly perturbed system in the standard notation is obtained, \[ \dot x=(1-x)x^2-xy,\quad \varepsilon\dot y=(x-\delta)y, \] where \(\varepsilon=K\frac{r_1}{r_2}\ll 1\) and \(\delta=b\). By employing the Poincaré map, the goal is to establish an asymptotic behavior of the state variables \(N_1, N_2\) as \(\varepsilon\to 0\). It was shown that the assumption \(0<\delta<1/2\) guarantees the existence of at least one stable nonclassical relaxation cycle in the system.