On a problem of vector-valued rational approximations to a class of nonlinear oscillations (Q951769)

By combining a perturbation technique with a rational approximation of vector-valued function, we propose a new approach to nonlinear oscillations of conservative single-degree-of-freedom systems with odd nonlinearity. The equation of motion does not require to contain a small parameter. First, the Lindstedt-Poincaré perturbation method is used to obtain an asymptotic analytical solution. Then the range of validity of the analytical representation is extended by using the vector-valued rational approximation of functions. For constructing the rational approximations, all that is needed is the coefficients of the perturbation expansion being considered. General approximate formulas for period and the corresponding periodic solution of a nonlinear system are established. Two examples are used to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.