Limit cycles appearing after perturbation of certain multidimensional vector fields. (Q5953923)

The Poincaré centre-problem of 1881 is considered in a multidimensional Hamiltonian formulation. The generating equations are linear, and the perturbation polynomials are `free'. -- The article ignores the extensive study of \textit{M. Frommer} carried out 1926, and published in [Math. Ann. 99, 222--272 (1928; JFM 54.0453.03)]. Frommer has shown that in addition to a change of stability, a small polynomial term may give rise to a bifurcation of a limit cycle. The studies of Andronov and Malkin in 1956 and 1966 have shown that Lyapunov critical cases of order larger than two may give rise to more complicated bifurcations than those of limit cycles. The authors assume implicitly only critical cases of an even order. Limit cycles arise also in critical cases of an odd order. A well known example is the 3-RC phaseshift electronic oscillator. The references are selective, only `modern' papers are cited. The estimate on bifurcated limit cycles is based on the zeros of an Abel-type integral.