Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematical-physiology-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2011/1/c/i/solution

The nullclines are and . The two outer pieces of have slope ; the middle piece has positive slope
The curve is continuous, with folds and . The unique equilibrium is . Its Jacobian matrix has trace and determinant , so it is unstable. The outer branches attract the fast voltage motion.
Let and . The hypothesis gives . The singular relaxation oscillation follows this route:
  • On the right branch , slowly increases from to .
  • At , the fast voltage jumps from to .
  • On the left branch , slowly decreases from to .
  • At , voltage jumps from to .
The jumps are almost horizontal in the phase plane, because changes negligibly on the fast time. Below , voltage increases; above it, voltage decreases; increases on the right of and decreases on the left. These signs provide a closed trapping region around the indicated route for sufficiently small positive , with the unstable equilibrium excluded, giving a periodic orbit by the planar return-map or Poincaré-Bendixson theorem argument. The continuous piecewise linear field is locally Lipschitz, so solution uniqueness is available at the corners.

New to topics? Read the docs here!