New lower bounds for the Hilbert number of polynomial systems of Liénard type (Q2249243)

The paper concerns Liénard system of the following form \[ \dot{x}=y, \quad \dot{y}=-g(x)-\varepsilon f(x)y, \] where \(|\varepsilon |\) is sufficiently small, \(f(x)\) and \(g(x)\) are real polynomials of degree \(n\) and \(m\) correspondingly. By applying the first-order Melnikov function the authors investigate the maximal number of limit cycles for some cases of the mentioned system with arbitrary \(n\) and \(m\). In these cases the derived new lower bounds for the Hilbert number improve previous results.