Multiple Hopf bifurcations of three coupled van der Pol oscillators with delay (Q531630)

Subject of the paper is the system of three coupled van der Pol oscillators \[ \ddot x_k+x_k-\varepsilon (1-x_k^2)\dot x_k = k[ x_{k+1}(t-\tau)-2x_k(t-\tau) + x_{k-1}(t-\tau)], \quad k=0,1,2, \] where the indices are considered modulo 3. Due to the symmetric coupling structure, this system is equivariant with respect to the \(D_3\) group action. Using symmetric bifurcations theory, the authors investigate the Hopf bifurcations of the equilibrium \(x_1=x_2=x_3=0\). As a result of these bifurcations, the following periodic rotating waves appear: mirror-reflecting waves, standing waves, and discrete waves. The paper discusses the appearance and stability of these waves.