No label defined (Q4394773)

The authors treat planar polynomial vector fields that may be expressed in complex form (1) \(\dot z= iz+ F_n(z,\overline z)\), where \(F_n\) is a homogeneous polynomial of arbitrary degree \(n\geq 2\). For such systems, a natural and widely investigated problem is to find conditions for the origin to be a center resp isochronous center. The authors derive six necessary conditions for a center and another six necessary conditions for isochronicity. This is accomplished by transforming (1) into an Abel equation \(dr/d\theta= A_2(\theta)r^2+ A_3(\theta)r^3\), where \((r,\theta)\) are modified polar coordinates introduced by Cherkas. The conditions obtained are tractable by computer algebra methods. The remaining part of the paper is restricted to the case \(n= 2\) and 3. Here, a general approach is used to rederive a set of necessary and sufficient conditions: The center problem is settled by earlier results of Žoladek, and the isochronicity problem is treated using a result of Villarini, which allows one to prove isochronicity by presenting a ``transversal commuting system'' for (1). For the entire collection see [Zbl 0884.00031].