Bifurcation from a normally degenerate manifold

Abstract

Local bifurcation theory typically deals with the response of a degenerate but isolated equilibrium state or periodic orbit of a dynamical system to perturbations controlled by one or more independent parameters, and characteristically uses tools from singularity theory. There are many situations, however, in which the equilibrium state or periodic orbit is not isolated but belongs to a manifold $S$ of such states, typically as a result of continuous symmetries in the problem. In this case the bifurcation analysis requires a combination of local and global methods, and is most tractable in the case of normal nondegeneracy, that is when the degeneracy is only along $S$ itself and the system is nondegenerate in directions normal to $S$. In this paper we consider the consequences of relaxing normal nondegeneracy, which can generically occur within 1-parameter families of such systems. We pay particular attention to the simplest but important case where $\dim S=1$ and where the normal degeneracy occurs with corank 1. Our main focus is on uniform degeneracy along $S$, although we also consider aspects of the branching structure for solutions when the degeneracy varies at different places on $S$. The tools are those of singularity theory adapted to global topology of $S$, which allow us to explain the bifurcation geometry in natural way. In particular, we extend and give a clear geometric setting for earlier analytical results of Hale and Taboas.