Past exam of the nonlinear systems course of the University of Oxford / 2023 / 2 / b / Solution

The Jacobian matrix at the origin and its characteristic polynomial areThe fixed-point multipliers areBy the Jury stability criterion, both lie strictly inside the unit circle exactly whenThe last condition always holds, since ${\mu }^2+\mu +2=(\mu +1/2{)}^2+7/4$. Therefore the origin is asymptotically stable exactly for $-1<\mu <0$ among the hyperbolic parameter values.

For completeness, its linear stability throughout the parameter line is as follows. When $\mu <-1$, the complex-conjugate Floquet multipliers have modulus $|\mu |>1$, so the origin repels. When $-1<\mu <-1/3$, their modulus is $|\mu |<1$, so it attracts with oscillation. At $\mu =-1/3$ the repeated Floquet multiplier is $1/3$, still attracting. For $-1/3<\mu <0$, both Floquet multipliers are real and in $(0,1)$. For $0<\mu <1$, $p(1)<0$ and $p(0)>0$, so one Floquet multiplier lies in $(0,1)$ and the other exceeds one: the origin is a saddle fixed point of a map. For $\mu >1$, the complex-conjugate Floquet multipliers have modulus $\mu >1$, so it repels.

Possible changes at the unit circle are exhausted by $p(1)=0$, $p(-1)=0$, or a nonreal pair with product one. They giveAt $\mu =0$ the Floquet multipliers are $0,1$; the nonzero fixed point branches in part (a) meet the origin, and part (c) identifies a subcritical pitchfork bifurcation. Indeed at $\mu =0$ the exact restricted map is $y\mapsto y+y^3$, which makes the origin unstable despite its neutral linear direction.

At $\mu =-1$ the Floquet multipliers are $i,-i$: this is a 1:4 strong resonance of a planar map, coinciding with the change from repelling to attracting as $\mu$ increases. A generic nonresonant Neimark–Sacker bifurcation conclusion would be unjustified. At $\mu =1$ there is a double Floquet multiplier $+1$; the matrix has a nontrivial Jordan block, and the two further nonzero fixed point branches meet the origin. Linear stability alone is inconclusive at these unit-modulus boundary values. The repeated Floquet multiplier at $\mu =-1/3$ is strictly inside the unit circle and gives no bifurcation.