A general method for the existence of periodic solutions of differential systems in the plane (Q652482)

The authors develop a general method to prove the existence of periodic solutions for planar systems of ordinary differential equations. The first step is to construct an unbounded curve spiralling around the origin, called a clockwise rotating regular spiral. They define such a curve to be admissible for the system if any solution crosses the curve, it goes from the outer part towards the inner part. Then a general sufficient condition for the existence of periodic solutions is established by using such a curve. Applications of this method are given to some nonresonant cases, even for systems with superlinear growth in some direction or with a singularity.