Topological properties on isochronous centers of polynomial Hamiltonian differential systems

Abstract

In this paper, we study the topological properties of complex polynomial Hamiltonian differential systems of degree $n$ having an isochronous center. Firstly, we prove that if the critical level curve possessing an isochronous center contains only a single singular point, and the period $1$-form does not have poles with zero residue at infinity on level curves sufficiently close to the critical curve, then the vanishing cycle associated to this center is trivial in the 1-dimensional homology group of the projective closure of a generic level curve. Our result provides a positive answer to a question asked by L. Gavrilov under relatively simple conditions and can be applied to achieve an equivalent description of the Jacobian conjecture on $\mathbb{C}^2$. Secondly, we obtain a very simple but useful necessary condition for isochronicity of Hamiltonian systems, which is that the $(n+1)$-degree part of the Hamiltonian function must have a factor with multiplicity no less than $(n+1)/2$. Thirdly, we show a relation between Gavrilov's question and the conjecture proposed by X. Jarque and J. Villadelprat on the non-isochronicity of real Hamiltonian systems of even degree $n$.