GEOMETRIC LIFT OF PATHS OF HAMILTONIAN EQUILIBRIA AND HOMOCLINIC BIFURCATION

Abstract

A saddle-center transition of eigenvalues in the linearization about Hamiltonian equilibria, and the attendant planar homoclinic bifurcation, is one of the simplest and most well-known bifurcations in dynamical systems theory. It is therefore surprising that anything new can be said about this bifurcation. In this tutorial, the classical view of this bifurcation is reviewed and the lifting of the planar system to four dimensions gives a new view. The principal practical outcome is a new formula for the nonlinear coefficient in the normal form which generates the homoclinic orbit. The new formula is based on the intrinsic curvature of the lifted path of equilibria.