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A planar periodic orbit, oriented by the flow, has Poincaré index $+1$. The index theorem equates this with the sum of the indices of the isolated equilibria enclosed by the orbit. A hyperbolic equilibrium has index $+1$ when its Jacobian matrix has positive determinant and index $-1$ when it is a saddle equilibrium.

The simultaneous zeros are the origin and the four corners $(\pm 1,\pm 1)$. The Jacobian matrix isAt the origin its eigenvalues are $1,-1$, with eigenvectors $(1,1),(1,-1)$, so the origin is a saddle equilibrium of Poincaré index $-1$. At a corner $J=-2xyI$. Thus $(1,1)$ and $(-1,-1)$ are stable nodes; $(1,-1)$ and $(-1,1)$ are unstable nodes, all of index $+1$. Although the node eigenvalues coincide, the equilibria are hyperbolic and their stability follows from their strictly signed real eigenvalues.

The lines $x=\pm 1$ and $y=\pm 1$ are invariant and divide the plane into nine convex regions. A nonconstant periodic trajectory cannot cross any of these lines by uniqueness, and cannot be contained in one of them because one-dimensional autonomous flows have no nonconstant periodic solutions. It must therefore lie inside one region. The central region contains only the origin, whose index is $-1$; all other regions contain no equilibria. But a simple periodic orbit has index $+1$, equal to the sum of the enclosed equilibrium indices. Its interior stays in the same convex region, giving a contradiction in either case. There are no periodic orbits.

Away from the invariant lines, trajectory curves have the first integralsince both logarithmic derivatives equal $-2xy$. The diagonal $y=x$ is the unstable separatrix of the origin, leading toward the two sinks; $y=-x$ is its stable separatrix, coming from the two sources. The diagram shows these separatrices, the invariant lines and the direction field.

The equilibrium points are $(0,0)$ and $(\pm 1,\pm (b-a))$, with correlated signs. The Jacobian matrix is $\left(\begin{array}{cc}a-3b{x}^2& 1\\ 3x^2-1& 0\end{array}\right)$. At the origin its eigenvalues satisfy ${\lambda }^2-a\lambda +1=0$. It is a focus for $0<|a|<2$, a repeated-eigenvalue node for $|a|=2$, and a node for $|a|>2$; stability is determined by the sign of $a$, with stability for $a<0$. Its Poincaré index is $+1$. At either other equilibrium the determinant is $-2$, so it is a saddle point with Poincaré index $-1$.

For a positively oriented simple closed curve on which the vector field is nonzero, its Poincaré index is the total rotation of the vector field along that curve divided by $2\pi$, equivalently the winding number of its normalized direction. The Poincaré index of an isolated fixed point is that of a sufficiently small enclosing curve containing no other fixed point. The index of a planar periodic orbit is $+1$.

An interior equilibrium point of a dynamical system must satisfyIf $ab\ne 1$, the unique candidate isIt belongs to $\Lambda$ precisely in either of the two casesAt this equilibrium the Jacobian matrix has determinantIn the first region the equilibrium has Poincaré index $+1$, so index considerations alone do not rule out a periodic orbit. In the second region it is a saddle equilibrium of index $-1$. Everywhere else there is no interior equilibrium, except at $a=b=-1$, where the segment $x+y=1$ consists of equilibria.

Every simple closed curve in the convex set $\Lambda$ bounds a region contained in $\Lambda$. A periodic orbit has index $+1$, equal to the sum of the indices of the equilibria that it encloses. Thus a region with no equilibrium has total index zero, while the region with the single saddle has total index $-1$; both contradict the index of a planar periodic orbit. At $a=b=-1$, a periodic orbit cannot cross the equilibrium segment and must lie in one of its two complementary convex regions, where it encloses no equilibrium, giving the same contradiction. Therefore index considerations exclude periodic orbits except possibly when

A simply connected region containing no equilibrium, or containing equilibria whose total Poincaré index is not $+1$, cannot contain a periodic orbit that encloses exactly those equilibria.