A canonical system of two differential equations with periodic coefficients and the Poincaré-Denjoy theory of differential equations on a torus (Q606027)

Consider a system of differential equations \[ \dot x = h_{21}x + h_{22}y,\quad \dot y = -h_{11}x - h_{12}y, \] where the functions \(h_{ij}(t)\) are real, measurable, periodic of least period \(\omega\), summable on \([0, \omega]\), and \(h_{12} = h_{21}\). When the system is written in polar coordinates \((r, \theta)\), then \(\dot \theta\) is independent of \(r\) and periodic in both \(t\) and \(\theta\) and so can be regarded as defining a differential equation on the torus. Under reasonable assumptions on \(f\), existence and uniqueness of solutions of initial value problems associated to \(\dot \theta = f(t, \theta)\), and continuity of solutions with respect to initial data, all hold. This system on the torus is completely characterized by its rotation number and an orientation preserving homeomorphism \(C\) induced on a meridian. The author relates dynamical properties of the original system to the rotation number and this homeomorphism \(C\). For example, the original system is strongly unstable (the origin is unstable for it and for every nearby system) if and only if the homeomorphism \(C\) has exactly two distinct fixed points.