Bifurcation of an equilibrium for a system of differential equations in the critical case of two pure imaginary and two zero roots of the characteristic equation. I (Q5926573)

The authors deal with the bifurcation of an equilibrium point to an autonomous four-dimensional system of ordinary differential equations by crossing through a critical case in the Lyapunov sense, achieved when a parameter has the value zero. Considering the characteristic equation written at the equilibrium point, this critical case is identified by two real roots equal to zero, obtained in the situation of a nondiagonal submatrix for the part related to these roots, and two pure imaginary roots. The situation of the two real roots implies the introduction of special transcendental periodic functions, defined by \textit{A. M. Lyapunov} in his book [Study of a particular case of the problem of motion stability. Leningrad (1963; Zbl 0112.31801)], that was published in 1963 long after his death. In the presence of four conditions, the authors prove that the differential system generates a bifurcation of a two-dimensional torus for sufficiently small positive values of the system parameter. This torus depends on two frequencies defined from the period of the trigonometric functions related to the two pure imaginary roots and from the period of the special transcendental functions defined by Lyapunov. This result is obtained after successive changes of variables (the first step using polar coordinates) and averaging processes, permitting the authors to attain a kind of four-dimensional normal form. A direct application concerns the oscillations of two weakly coupled oscillators with linear and cubic restoring force. Then the steady oscillations of one oscillator have a finite frequency, while those of the second oscillator have an infinitely small frequency as the amplitude tends toward zero.