Bifurcation without parameters (Q405593)

The existence of manifolds of equilibria in ODE systems, although nongeneric, is common in applications ranging from biochemical networks to cosmology. When one varies the position of an equilibrium along such a manifold, eigenvalues of the linearization might cross the imaginary axis: at such a point, the normal hyperbolicity of the manifold of equilibria breaks down. This phenomenon is called `Bifurcation without parameters' by the author. This book gives a wide variety of the dramatic changes in the dynamics that can occur in such a situation. Bifurcations without parameters are classified by their codimensions and are named after the classical bifurcation with the same imaginary axis crossing configuration. However the dynamics that unfold are very different from their counterpart with parameter: roughly speaking, bifurcation without parameter does not give rise to branching but shows its richness in unfolding connecting orbits between equilibria of the manifold. The introducing chapter sets the problem, in particular pointing out that hidden parameters or conserved quantities have to be excluded by non-degeneracy conditions. The second chapter recalls center manifold and normal form, the main actors of the analysis, in a very efficient way. The following chapters explain and illustrate by applications the bifurcations without parameters that have been classified so far.