Original solutions to examinations of the nonlinear systems course of the University of Oxford, using centre manifolds, bifurcation theory and symbolic dynamics.
Supercritical bifurcation 2026-10-06
A supercritical branch emerges on the parameter side where the original state loses stability. In the cubic Landau amplitude equation with , the nonzero branch lies at and is stable to radial amplitude perturbations. Continuous phase symmetry still leaves a neutral phase direction. The direction of a branch and its stability should both be checked in a general problem of bifurcation theory.