Neimark–Sacker bifurcations in a non-standard numerical scheme for a class of positivity-preserving ODEs

Abstract

We discuss the nature of Neimark–Sacker bifurcations occurring in a non-standard numerical scheme, for a class of positivity-preserving systems of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) which undergoes a corresponding Hopf bifurcation. Extending previous work (Alexander & Moghadas 2005 a Electron. J. Diff. Eqn. Conf . 12 , 9–19), it is shown that the type of Neimark–Sacker bifurcation (supercritical or subcritical) may be affected by the integration time-step . The general form of the scheme in the vicinity of a fixed point is given, from which the expression for the first Lyapunov coefficient for two-dimensional systems, valid for arbitrary time-step, is explicitly derived. The analysis shows that this coefficient undergoes an shift with respect to the corresponding coefficient of the original ODE. This could lead to a type of bifurcation which differs from the corresponding Hopf bifurcation in the ODE, due to changes in the sign of the first Lyapunov coefficient as varies. This is especially problematic in the vicinity of certain types of degenerate Hopf bifurcation, at which this coefficient may vanish. We also present a general method to eliminate the possible shift in the bifurcation parameter of the scheme; however, the first Lyapunov coefficient may still be subjected to an shift, leading to a possibly erroneous type of bifurcation. Examples are given to illustrate the theoretical results of the paper with applications to mathematical biology.