A survey on the blow-up method for fast-slow systems

Abstract

In this document we review a geometric technique, called the blow-up method, as it has been used to analyze and understand the dynamics of fast-slow systems around non-hyperbolic points. The blow-up method, having its origins in algebraic geometry, was introduced to the study of fast-slow systems in the seminal work by Dumortier and Roussarie in 1996, whose aim was to give a geometric approach and interpretation of canards in the van der Pol oscillator. Following Dumortier and Roussarie, many efforts have been performed to expand the capabilities of the method and to use it in a wide range of scenarios. Our goal is to present in a concise and compact form those results that, based on the blow-up method, are now the foundation of the geometric theory of fast-slow systems with non-hyperbolic singularities. Due to their great importance in the theory of fast-slow systems, we cover fold points as one of the main topics. Furthermore, we also present several other singularities such as Hopf, pitchfork, transcritical, cusp, and Bogdanov-Takens, in which the blow-up method has been proved to be extremely useful. Finally, we survey further directions as well as examples of specific applied models, where the blow-up method has been used successfully.