Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2001/iii/paper-51/3/b/solution

Substitution of the weighted scaling and gives
The derivative of the candidate Hamiltonian is
Thus is a conserved quantity at . For put . The conservative equilibrium point is a center with , and is a saddle equilibrium with saddle-loop energy
The closed component of a level between these energies surrounds the center. At ,
is the homoclinic orbit, with left turning point . The upper branch is traversed to the right and the lower branch to the left. Levels above the barrier have escaping trajectories; the saddle level also has unbounded branches to the right. For the two critical points coalesce; for the potential is monotone and there is no center or saddle loop.
Figure 1.
Hamiltonian level curves and the conservative saddle loop for alpha equal to one
. Details.

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