Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-topics-in-applied-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2009/b/4/b/i/solution

The cubic terms vanish in the linearization, leaving . Its eigenvalues are , so the origin is a repelling focus equilibrium. The nonzero imaginary part gives rotation, while the positive real part makes small amplitudes grow. In particular it cannot be the forward limit of nearby nonzero trajectories, which motivates looking for an attracting periodic orbit away from the origin.

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