Freddy Dumortier

This book offers the first systematic account of canard cycles, an intriguing phenomenon in the study of ordinary differential equations. The canard cycles are treated in the general context of slow-fast families of two-dimensional vector fields. The central question of controlling the limit cycles is addressed in detail and strong results are presented with complete proofs.In particular, the book provides a detailed study of the structure of the transitions near the critical set of non-isolated singularities. This leads to precise results on the limit cycles and their bifurcations, including the so-called canard phenomenon and canard explosion. The book also provides a solid basis for the use of asymptotic techniques. It gives a clear understanding of notions like inner and outer solutions, describing their relation and precise structure.The first part of the book provides a thorough introduction to slow-fast systems, suitable for graduate students. The second and third parts will be of interest to both pure mathematicians working on theoretical questions such as Hilbert's 16th problem, as well as to a wide range of applied mathematicians looking for a detailed understanding of two-scale models found in electrical circuits, population dynamics, ecological models, cellular (FitzHugh–Nagumo) models, epidemiological models, chemical reactions, mechanical oscillators with friction, climate models, and many other models with tipping points.

This book offers the first systematic account of canard cycles, an intriguing phenomenon in the study of ordinary differential equations. The canard cycles are treated in the general context of slow-fast families of two-dimensional vector fields. The central question of controlling the limit cycles is addressed in detail and strong results are presented with complete proofs.In particular, the book provides a detailed study of the structure of the transitions near the critical set of non-isolated singularities. This leads to precise results on the limit cycles and their bifurcations, including the so-called canard phenomenon and canard explosion. The book also provides a solid basis for the use of asymptotic techniques. It gives a clear understanding of notions like inner and outer solutions, describing their relation and precise structure.The first part of the book provides a thorough introduction to slow-fast systems, suitable for graduate students. The second and third parts will be of interest to both pure mathematicians working on theoretical questions such as Hilbert's 16th problem, as well as to a wide range of applied mathematicians looking for a detailed understanding of two-scale models found in electrical circuits, population dynamics, ecological models, cellular (FitzHugh–Nagumo) models, epidemiological models, chemical reactions, mechanical oscillators with friction, climate models, and many other models with tipping points.

Our aim is to study ordinary di?erential equations or simply di?erential s- tems in two real variables x ? = P(x,y), (0.1) y? = Q(x,y), r 2 where P and Q are C functions de?ned on an open subset U of R , with ? r=1,2,...,?,?.AsusualC standsforanalyticity.Weputspecialemphasis onto polynomial di?erential systems, i.e., on systems (0.1) where P and Q are polynomials. Instead of talking about the di?erential system (0.1), we frequently talk about its associated vector ?eld ? ? X = P(x,y) +Q(x,y) (0.2) ?x ?y 2 on U? R . This will enable a coordinate-free approach, which is typical in thetheoryofdynamicalsystems.Anotherwayexpressingthevector?eldisby writingitasX=(P,Q).Infact,wedonotdistinguishbetweenthedi?erential system (0.1) and its vector ?eld (0.2). Almost all the notions and results that we present for two-dimensional di?erential systems can be generalized to higher dimensions and manifolds; but our goal is not to present them in general, we want to develop all these notions and results in dimension 2. We would like this book to be a nice introduction to the qualitative theory of di?erential equations in the plane, providing simultaneously the major part of concepts and ideas for developing a similar theory on more general surfaces and in higher dimensions. Except in very limited cases we do not deal with bifurcations, but focus on the study of individual systems.

The book reports on recent work by the authors on the bifurcation structure of singular points of planar vector fields whose linear parts are nilpotent. The bifurcation diagrams of the most important codimension-three cases are studied in detail. The results presented reach the limits of what is currently known on the bifurcation theory of planar vector fields. While the treatment is geometric, special analytical tools using abelian integrals are needed, and are explicitly developed. The rescaling and normalization methods are improved for application here. The reader is assumed to be familiar with the elements of Bifurcation and Dynamical Systems Theory. The book is addressed to researchers and graduate students working in Ordinary Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems, as well as anyone modelling complex multiparametric phenomena.