Mel’nikov Methods and Homoclinic Orbits in Discontinuous Systems

Abstract

We consider a discontinuous system exhibiting a, possibly non-smooth, homoclinic trajectory. We assume that the critical point lies on the discontinuity level. We study the persistence of such a trajectory when the system is subject to a smooth non-autonomous perturbation. We use a Mel’nikov type approach and we introduce conditions which enable us to reformulate the problem in the setting of smooth systems so that we can follow the outline of the classical theory.