Exponential radial approach to a unit-circle limit cycle

ID: exponential-radial-approach-to-a-unit-circle-limit-cycle

On the punctured plane, the vector field , has the displayed polar equations. Its exact trajectories satisfy and . Every forward trajectory approaches the unit circle, rotating counterclockwise, from inside or outside according to its initial radius. The circle is an attracting limit cycle with least period . The origin is not an equilibrium: the original vector field is undefined there. The singularity prevents an application of a whole-plane Bendixson-Dulac criterion to this periodic orbit.

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