Local bifurcations of critical periods in a generalized 2D LV system (Q2391279)

The authors investigate a generalized Lotka-Volterra system that arises from the classical one by replacing \(x\) and \(y\) on the right-hand side by \(x^p\) and \(y^q\), respectively. This system is reduced to one with three positive parameters \(c, p, q\), and a center \(C\) in the first quadrant. The aim of the paper is to find conditions for the isochronicity of \(C\), and to study local bifurcations of critical periods. The three-dimensional parameter domain is subdivided into four regions in such a way that in these subregions, \(C\) is a weak center of order 0, 1 or 2, or an isochronous center, respectively. It is proved that at most two critical periods bifurcate. More precisely, the authors show that if \(C\) is a weak center of order \(k\) (\(k=1, 2\)), there exist perturbations in the parameter space such that \(k\) critical periods bifurcate from \(C\). Similar results are obtained in the isochronous case. Essential parts of the proofs use results of an earlier paper by Chicone and Jacobs.