Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/iii/paper-56/1/b/solution

With primes denoting differentiation in , the weighted scaling gives
Indeed and , so the damping terms carry one extra power of . Consequently
At this proves conservation of directly.
For , the potential is a double well. Its minima are at , where ; these are centre equilibria. The origin is a saddle equilibrium and has . Energies give two separate closed contours, one in each well. Energies give a single closed contour surrounding both wells. The intervening figure-eight consists of two homoclinic loops:
Their outer turning points are . The positive loop, for example, is parametrized by , .
Figure 1.
Conserved-energy contours and the two homoclinic loops
. Details.

New to topics? Read the docs here!