Enhanced delay to bifurcation (Q2519140)

The authors present the singularity perturbed planar system \[ \varepsilon\dot x=(1- x^2)(x- y),\quad\dot y= x,\tag{\(*\)} \] where \(\varepsilon\) is a small positive parameter. \((*)\) has the unique equilibrium \(x= y= 0\), and the invariant lines \(x=\pm 1\). At the same time, these lines are also manifolds of \((*)\), where the parts \(x=-1\), \(y<-1\) and \(x=1\), \(y> 1\) are repulsive. A trajectory of \((*)\) starting in the region \(|x|< 1\), spirals around the origin, moreover, it is a canard trajectory with the ``unusual'' property that to any given small \(\delta\) and any large \(T\) it stays for a time larger than \(T\) within a distance less than \(\delta\) to the repulsive part of \(x=-1\) and \(x=\pm 1\). This example contributes to the understanding of the nature of canard trajectories.