Stability of equilibrium for the autonomous Birkhoff system (Q687941)

We construct the equations of equilibrium for the Birkhoff system expanding the equations of motion about the equilibrium position to obtain the equations of first degree approximation and prove that the conditions of Lyapunov theorem on the stability of first degree approximation do not hold. Then, we apply the Lyapunov theorem on the instability of first degree approximation in the critical case to the system and make a few conclusions on the stability of equilibrium for the Birkhoff system. Finally, an example is given.