Center configurations of Hamiltonian cubic systems (Q990310)

This paper studies the different configurations of periodic orbits that planar cubic Hamiltonian systems can exhibit. Recall that a concentric set of periodic orbits about a single equilibrium point is called a simple eye or an eye of order one. A compound structure of periodic orbits is an eye of order \(n\) if inside the outermost fan of periodic orbits there are two or more distinct eyes of periodic orbits, at least one of which is an eye of order \(n-1\). Taking into account that cubic Hamiltonian systems can have at most five centers, the author proves that, a priori, there are 18 different possibilities of eyes of order two (if orientation of the periodic orbits is considered) and that only 7 of these possibilities can occur. Examples of eyes of order three and four are also given at the end of the work.