Polynomial differential equations with piecewise linear coefficients (Q691315)

Consider the scalar differential equations \[ \dot x= a(t) x^3+ b(t) x^2\tag{\(*\)} \] and \[ \dot x= x^4+ a(t) x^3+ b(t) x^2,\tag{\(**\)} \] where \(a\) and \(b\) are continuous functions, and introduce the notation: \(\mu_1(m,n)\) is the maximum of the multiplicity of \(x\equiv 0\) when \(b\) and \(a\) are polynomial functions of degrees \(m\) and \(n\), respectively. \(\mu_2(m,n)\) is the maximum of the multiplicity of \(x\equiv 0\) when \(b\) and \(a\) are continuous piecewise linear functions with \(m\) and \(n\) segments, respectively. Using this notation, the author proves two results. Theorem 1. For equation \((*)\), the following relations are valid: \[ \begin{aligned} \mu_1(2,2) &= \mu_2(2,2)= 4,\;\mu_1(2,3)= \mu_2(2,3)= 8,\\ \mu_1(1,2) &= \mu_1(1,3)= \mu_2(1,2)= \mu_2(1,3)= 4,\\ \mu_1(1,4) &= \mu_2(1,4)= \mu_1(1,5)= \mu_2(1,5)= 5,\\ \mu_1(1,6) &= \mu_2(1,6)= 10,\;\mu_1(1,7)= \mu_2(1,7)= 11.\end{aligned} \] Theorem 2. For equation \((**)\), the following relations hold: \[ \begin{aligned} \mu_1(2,2) &= \mu_2(2,2)= 8,\;\mu_1(2,3) = \mu_2(2,3)= 10,\\ \mu_1(1,2) &= \mu_1(1,3)= \mu_2(1,2)= \mu_2(1,3)= 5,\\ \mu_1(1,4) &= \mu_2(1,4)= 9,\;\mu_1(1,5)= \mu_2(1,5)= 10.\end{aligned} \] These results suggest the conjecture that, for equations \((*)\) and \((**)\), \(\mu_1(m,n)= \mu_2(m,n)\) holds for any \(m\) and \(n\).