Limit cycle bifurcations of a piecewise smooth Hamiltonian system with a generalized heteroclinic loop through a cusp (Q2408397)

The authors calculate the Melnikov functions of the piecewise smooth perturbed Hamiltonian differential equations \[ \begin{alignedat}{3} \dot{x} &= y + \epsilon p^+(x, y), &\quad \dot{y} &= -3 (x-1)^2/2+\epsilon q^+(x, y) && \quad \text{for } x \geq 0, \\ \dot{x} &= y + \epsilon p^-(x, y), &\quad \dot{y} &= 1+x+\epsilon q^-(x,y) && \quad\text{for } x<0,\end{alignedat} \] where \(p^+\), \(p^-\), \(q^+\), and \(q^-\) are polynomials of degree \(n\) in \(x\) and \(y\). For \(\epsilon=0\) the system has a center at the origin, a hyperbolic saddle point at \((x,y)=(-1,0)\) and a cusp at \((x, y)=(1,0)\); the cusp and the saddle point are connected by a generalized heteroclinic loop. For \(\epsilon>0\) the continuous family of periodic solutions is broken and discrete periodic solutions are possible; for small values of \(\epsilon\) the location of these periodic solutions can be approximately found as zeroes of the Melnikov function. The authors derive a formula for the Melnikov function, depending on the perturbation terms in \(p^{\pm}\) and \(q^{\pm}\) and conclude that the number \(n_p\) of periodic solutions is limited by \[ n_p \leq 12n+7. \]