Paper 1, Section II, 32E

Dynamical Systems
Part II, 2020

(i) For the dynamical system

x˙=x(x22μ)(x2μ+a),\dot{x}=-x\left(x^{2}-2 \mu\right)\left(x^{2}-\mu+a\right),

sketch the bifurcation diagram in the (μ,x)(\mu, x) plane for the three cases a<0,a=0a<0, a=0 and a>0a>0. Describe the bifurcation points that occur in each case.

(ii) For the case when a<0a<0 only, confirm the types of bifurcation by finding the system to leading order near each of the bifurcations.

(iii) Explore the structural stability of these bifurcations by adding a small positive constant ϵ\epsilon to the right-hand side of ()(\uparrow) and by sketching the bifurcation diagrams, for the three cases a<0,a=0a<0, a=0 and a>0a>0. Which of the original bifurcations are structurally stable?