Bounding the number of limit cycles for a polynomial Liénard system by using regular chains (Q507129)

The object of study in this article is the family of Liénard systems of type \((4,3)\) of the form \[ \dot x = y, \;\dot y = x(x^3 - 1) + \varepsilon (a_0 + a_1 x + a_2 x^2 + a_3 x^3) y \] for \(\varepsilon\) positive and small. Using the fact that each such system is near-Hamiltonian the authors prove that the maximum number of limit cycles that can appear is six and that there are choices of the parameters for which at least four limit cycles are present. The main tools are Pontriagin (or abelian) integrals, theory of Chebyshev systems, and regular chain theory in polynomial algebra.