Approximating Limit Cycles of a Van der Pol Equation with Delay
by
David E. Gilsinn
National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive,Stop 8910, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8910
Coauthors: Dianne P. O'Leary

The Van der Pol equation has been a well studied equation in ordinary differential equations. Approximation of the periodic solutions and associated frequencies have been computed to high order. The Van der Pol equation with delay terms has not been so extensively studied. This paper will describe and illustrate some techniques used to locate and approximate the limit cycles of a Van der Pol equation with unit delay. In particular it will discuss the use of the characteristic equation, Galerkin's approximation and some numerical methods for locating the periodic solutions.

Date received: February 12, 2003