When in the signed cyclic three-mode amplitude equations, and for . Thus is conserved wherever , precluding asymptotically stable isolated equilibria. On , each octant contains closed contours of around the equal-magnitude equilibrium, bounded by heteroclinic arcs between coordinate axes if . For the sphere consists entirely of equilibria.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 78 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Equivariance under makes the first component odd in ; equivariance under and makes it even in . Up to cubic order its allowed monomials are therefore , , , and . Absolute irreducibility makes the linear coefficient the same in each component. Equivariance under the cyclic permutation then determines the other two components from the first. Write its three independent cubic coefficients as , , and . With , the resulting signed cyclic three-mode amplitude equations areThere are no quadratic terms because each component has its own amplitude as an odd factor and is even in the other amplitudes. Higher-order equivariant terms begin at degree five; the remaining calculation concerns this displayed cubic truncation.