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For $\omega \ne 0$, put $\mu =\hat{\mu }{\omega }^2$, $C=\omega z$ and $\tau =\omega T$, where $z=\hat{C}$. Then $C_T={\omega }^2{z}_{\tau }$ and division by ${\omega }^2$ givesWe may take $\omega >0$ without loss of the dynamics by conjugating the original equation if necessary; otherwise $\tau$ reverses the time orientation. The scaling is singular at $\omega =0$ and is not a transformation for that exactly zero-frequency case.

The Hamiltonian limit of three-to-one forcing drops the terms proportional to $\omega$. For $z=x+iy$ the remaining real system isThe proposed first integral isIndeed $x_{\tau }=H_y/2$ and $y_{\tau }=-H_x/2$, hence $H_{\tau }=0$. The unperturbed equation is a planar Hamiltonian system, with a center equilibrium at the origin and three saddle equilibria atAll saddle equilibria have $H=1/3$. The factorizationshows that their central separatrix consists of the three sides of an equilateral triangle. Each level $0<H<1/3$ inside this triangle is a closed periodic orbit. Indeed, inside the triangle $0<r<1$ and ${\partial }_{r}H=2r(1+r\sin 3\theta )>0$. Each ray from the origin therefore meets each such level once, giving a compact simple closed contour with no equilibrium point on it. The nonzero vector field traverses this contour periodically; the period grows without bound as the separatrix is approached. This supplies an infinite family, not a claim that every level outside the central region is closed.

Restore the small radial perturbation. Its exact effect on the first integral isConsequently the continuum of Hamiltonian system orbits generally does not persist. The origin becomes a weak attracting focus for $\hat{\mu }<0$ or a repelling focus for $\hat{\mu }>0$, and the three hyperbolic saddle equilibria persist with perturbed stable manifold and unstable manifold. For a small positive $\hat{\mu }$, outward drift on very small orbits balances cubic damping on somewhat larger ones, selecting a stable limit cycle rather than an arbitrary energy level. Near the center equilibrium $H\simeq r^2$, so its leading radius is $r\simeq \sqrt{\hat{\mu }}$ when $\hat{\mu }$ is also small.

For a more general closed unperturbed orbit ${\Gamma }_h$, the averaged area criterion for perturbed Hamiltonian cycles says that persistence requires the averaged energy drift ${\oint }_{{\Gamma }_h}{H}_{\tau }d\tau$ to vanish. Since the unperturbed speed is $|\nabla H|/2$, the planar divergence theorem converts this leading drift towhere ${\mathcal{D}}_h$ is the enclosed region. Isolated zeros select candidate periodic orbits; a drift changing from positive inside to negative outside gives an attracting limit cycle. The separatrix triangle has mean $r^2=1/4$, so its leading flux changes sign at $\hat{\mu }=1/2$. This marks the leading possible heteroclinic transition, with higher-order corrections needed to locate it precisely.

As a cycle approaches the saddle equilibria, long residence times and splitting of the heteroclinic cycle become important. Orbits can instead drift inward to the equilibrium point at the origin or leave the periodic island and approach one of the stable states with phase locking of the full canonical equation. Those upper-branch threefold phase-locked equilibria have $C=O(1)$, so they lie outside the local $C=O(\omega )$ scaling. Thus the small perturbation gives energy selection, attracting or repelling oscillations, and possible switching/locking transitions; it does not preserve a conserved $H$ or an infinite family of neutral periodic solutions. This qualitative picture does not assume all global parameter values have the same attractor.

Use the nearly conserved oscillator energy $E=({\dot{x}}^2+x^2)/2$. The differential equation givesFor a leading-order orbit $x=A\cos \theta$, $\dot{x}=-A\sin \theta$, the cycle averages are $⟨{\dot{x}}^4⟩=3A^4/8$, $⟨x^3\dot{x}⟩=0$, $⟨x^4{\dot{x}}^2⟩=A^6/16$, and $⟨{\dot{x}}^2⟩=A^2/2$. The energy balance method therefore givesThe two nonzero simple roots give the leading limit cycles $x\simeq \cos (t+{\theta }_0)$ and $x\simeq \sqrt{2}\cos (t+{\theta }_0)$. Below amplitude $1$ the energy increases, between $1$ and $\sqrt{2}$ it decreases, and above $\sqrt{2}$ it increases. Hence the amplitude-$1$ cycle is stable and the amplitude-$\sqrt{2}$ cycle unstable for positive small $\epsilon$.

The linearized averaged radial exponents are $-\epsilon /2$ and $\epsilon$, respectively, consistent with nontrivial Floquet multipliers $e^{-\pi \epsilon +O({\epsilon }^2)}$ and $e^{2\pi \epsilon +O({\epsilon }^2)}$. The nonzero derivatives at these averaged zeros also justify persistence of nearby cycles for sufficiently small $\epsilon$.

For $r>0$, differentiate $r^2=x^2+y^2$ and use the angular derivative $(x\dot{y}-y\dot{x})/r^2$. The polar coordinates satisfyHence the rotation is clockwise. The origin is an unstable equilibrium, while $r=1$ is a limit cycle of period $2\pi$. Writing $u=r^2$ gives the logistic differential equation $\dot{u}=2u(1-u)$. For $r(t_0)=r_0>0$,All nonzero solutions tend to the unit-circle attracting limit cycle as $t\to \infty$, spiralling outward for $r_0<1$ and inward for $r_0>1$. For $0<r_0<1$ the solution exists for every real time and approaches the origin as $t\to -\infty$; for $r_0=1$ it remains periodic in both time directions. For $r_0>1$, the denominator first vanishes atThis finite-time blow-up of an ordinary differential equation occurs backward in time. Such exterior solutions have no $t\to -\infty$ behavior: their maximal time interval is $(t_{\ast },\infty )$. The zero solution exists for all time and has no defined polar angle.

In a subcritical Hopf bifurcation, the small periodic orbit repels within the critical centre manifold and lies on the side where the equilibrium point attracts within that manifold. With the critical eigenvalue real part increasing through zero, the positive cubic sign gives the exact radial Hopf normal formFor $\mu <0$, the nonzero radius is $r_{\ast }=\sqrt{-\mu }$. Radii below $r_{\ast }$ shrink to zero, whereas radii above it grow. The radial derivative at the cycle is $\mu +3r_{\ast }^2=-2\mu >0$, proving that the periodic orbit repels. For example, $\mu =-0.04$ gives an unstable circle of radius $0.2$: a radius of $0.1$ decays while one of $0.3$ grows. The unstable circle shrinks into zero as $\mu \uparrow 0$; at $\mu =0$, $\dot{r}=r^3$ already drives every small positive radius outward.

For $\mu >0$ there is no nonzero constant radius in this cubic model, and zero repels. In a general dynamical system, this says only that the nearby orbits leave the local neighbourhood. It does not guarantee a distant attracting limit cycle, a jump to a particular amplitude, or hysteresis. Additional nonlinear or global information is needed; the quintic radial Hopf equation illustrates one possible stabilizing extension. Reversing the parameter orientation reverses which numerical side contains the branch, so the defining distinction between supercritical Hopf bifurcation and subcritical Hopf bifurcation is their reduced stability and their relation to the equilibrium point, rather than the bare sign of an arbitrarily named parameter.

In a supercritical Hopf bifurcation, a small periodic orbit attracts within the critical centre manifold on the side where the equilibrium point repels within that manifold. Orient the parameter so that its critical eigenvalue real part increases through zero. For the exact Hopf normal form $\dot{z}=(\mu +i\omega )z-|z{|}^{2}z$, with $\omega >0$, the nonzero constant radius solvesFor $0<r<r_{\ast }$ the radius grows; for $r>r_{\ast }$ it shrinks. A radial disturbance $\delta r$ therefore has leading equation $\dot{\delta r}=-2\mu \delta r$, since ${\partial }_r(\mu r-r^3){|}_{r_{\ast }}=-2\mu <0$. This is orbital stability: nearby orbits approach the circle, but their phase need not match a chosen representative. The exact angular frequency is $\omega$, so the period is $2\pi /\omega$ and the frequency is $\omega /(2\pi )$.

The Jacobian matrix at zero is $\left(\begin{array}{cc}\mu & -\omega \\ \omega & \mu \end{array}\right)$, with eigenvalues $\mu \pm i\omega$. Zero attracts for $\mu <0$ and repels for $\mu >0$. Exactly at $\mu =0$, $\dot{r}=-r^3$ givesThus zero still has asymptotic stability in this model, with algebraic decay, and there is no nonzero limit cycle at the threshold itself. As $\mu \downarrow 0$ on the cycle branch, both its radius $\sqrt{\mu }$ and its radial attraction rate $2\mu$ vanish. Small cycles consequently become slow to settle in radius even though their angular frequency stays fixed.

// Target: dynamical-systems.bigb

The planar system $\dot{x}=y+(1-x^2-y^2)x$, $\dot{y}=-x+(1-x^2-y^2)y$ has polar coordinates $\dot{r}=r(1-r^2)$, $\dot{\theta }=-1$. Every nonzero orbit approaches the clockwise unit-circle limit cycle, of period $2\pi$. For $r(t_0)=r_0>0$,Interior orbits approach the origin backward in time, but exterior orbits have backward finite-time blow-up of an ordinary differential equation at $t=t_0+\frac{1}{2}\log (1-r_0^{-2})$. Thus forward convergence to a limit cycle does not imply existence for all negative times.