Example of a quadratic system with two cycles appearing in a homoclinic loop bifurcation

Abstract

We give here a planar quadratic differential system depending on two parameters, λ, δ. There is a curve in the λ-δ space corresponding to a homoclinic loop bifurcation (HLB). The bifurcation is degenerate at one point of the curve and we get a narrow tongue in which we have two limit cycles. This is the first example of such a bifurcation in planar quadratic differential systems. We propose also a model for the bifurcation diagram of a system with two limit cycles appearing at a singular point from a degenerate Hopf bifurcation, and dying in a degenerate HLB. This model shows a deep duality between degenerate Hopf bifurcations and degenerate HLBs. We give a bound for the maximal number of cycles that can appear in certain simultaneous Hopf and homoclinic loop bifurcations. We also give an example of quadratic system depending on three parameters which has at one place a degenerate Hopf bifurcation of order 3, and at another place a Hopf bifurcation of order 2 together with a HLB. We characterize the planar quadratic systems which are integrable in the neighbourhood of a homoclinic loop.