Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/iii/paper-78/1/e/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 78 1 e Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Adjoin and use an extended centre manifold with local coordinates . Count as order , as appropriate to a steady-state fold, and writeThe centre-manifold invariance equation differentiates these graphs along . The derivatives and first contribute at weighted order three. Comparing the coefficients of and in the right sides therefore givesSince , their solution isHence the reduced normal form isBoth the quadratic and unfolding coefficients are nonzero, so the steady-state bifurcation is a saddle-node, with equilibria on the side. The exact steady equations confirm this: , , and , giving two nearby equilibria for and none for .
For the transverse modes are attracting; the negative- branch is locally attracting and the positive- branch has one unstable direction. For , one transverse eigenvalue is already positive, so neither full equilibrium is asymptotically stable, although the reduced fold is still present with reversed flow orientation. The parameter requires a higher-dimensional degeneracy analysis and is outside the stated assumption.
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