Shankar Sastry, Omar Hijab. / Bibliography: leaf 20. / "May 1981." / Department of Energy contract DOE-ET-A01-2295T050

In this thesis we consider the traditional Van der Pol Oscillator with a forcing dependent on a delay in feedback. The delay is taken to be a nonlinear function of both position and velocity which gives rise to many different types of bifurcations. In particular, we study the Zero-Hopf bifurcation that takes place at certain parameter values using methods of centre manifold reduction of DDEs and normal form theory. We present numerical simulations that have been accurately predicted by the phase portraits in the Zero-Hopf bifurcation to confirm our numerical results and provide a physical understanding of the oscillator with the delay in feedback.

In the context of gene expression, we proposed a nonlinear stochastic delay differential equation as a mathematical model to study the effects of extrinsic noise on a delay induced Hopf bifurcation. We envisaged its direct numerical resolution. Following the example of the noisy oscillator, we first solved a linearized version of the equation, close to the Hopf bifurcation. The numerical scheme used is a combination of a standard algorithm to solve a deterministic delay differential equation and a stochastic Euler scheme. From our calculations we verified that the deterministic behaviour is fully recovered. For the stochastic case, we found that our solution is qualitatively accurate, in the sense that the noise induced shift in the critical value a, follows the trend the known analytic results predict. However, our numerical solution systematically overestimates the value of the shift. This is explained because the accuracy in the numerical estimation of the decay rate of a solution towards the stationary state value is a function of the control parameter a. We believe the mismatch between the numerical solution and the analytic results is due to a lack of convergence of our scheme, rather than to lack of accuracy. As our numerical scheme is an hybrid, the convergence problem can be improved, both at the deterministic and at the stochastic parts of the scheme. In this work we left our numerical results on the nonlinear case out, because before proceeding to the investigation of the nonlinear equation, the convergence must be assured in the linear case.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 118-125).

Thesis (Ph. D.), Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1998. / Restricted until June 1999. Bibliography: leaves 150-155.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Aberdeen University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Bonn, 1986. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 121-124).

In this thesis we consider the traditional Van der Pol Oscillator with a forcing dependent on a delay in feedback. The delay is taken to be a nonlinear function of both position and velocity which gives rise to many different types of bifurcations. In particular, we study the Zero-Hopf bifurcation that takes place at certain parameter values using methods of centre manifold reduction of DDEs and normal form theory. We present numerical simulations that have been accurately predicted by the phase portraits in the Zero-Hopf bifurcation to confirm our numerical results and provide a physical understanding of the oscillator with the delay in feedback.

Fertilized frog eggs (and cell-free extracts) undergo periodic oscillations in the activity of "M-phase promoting factor" (MPF), the crucial triggering enzyme for mitosis (nuclear division) and cell division. MPF activity is regulated by a complex network of biochemical reactions. Novak and Tyson, and their collaborators, have been studying the qualitative and quantitative properties of a large system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations that describe the molecular details of this system as currently known. Important clues to the behavior of the model are provided by bifurcation theory, especially characterization of the codimension-1 and -2 bifurcation sets of the differential equations. To illustrate this method, I have been studying a system of 9 ordinary differential equations that describe the frog egg cell cycle with some fidelity. I will describe the bifurcation diagram of this system in a parameter space spanned by the rate constants for cyclin synthesis and cycling degradation. My results suggest either that the cell cycle control system should show dynamical behavior considerably more complex than the limit cycles and steady states reported so far, or that the biochemical rate constants of the system are constrained to avoid regions of parameter space where complex bifurcation points unfold. / Ph. D.

This thesis details the investigation into the Whirling Planar Pendulum system. The WPP is a pendulum that is spun around a vertical spin axis at a controllable horizontal offset. This dynamical system exhibits both local and global bifurcations. The local pitchfork bifurcation leads to the splitting of a single stable equilibrium point into three (two stable and one unstable), as the spin rate is increased. The global bifurcations lead to two independent types of chaotic oscillations which are induced by sinusoidal excitations. The types of chaos are each associated with one of two homoclinic orbits in the system's phase portraits. The onset of each type of chaos is investigated through Melnikov's Method applied to the system's Hamiltonian, to find parameters at which the stable and unstable manifolds intersect transversely, indicating the onset of chaotic motion. These results are compared to simulation results, which suggest chaotic motion through the appearance of strange attractors in the Poincaré maps. Additionally, evidence of the WPP system experiencing both types of chaos simultaneously was found, resulting in a merger of two distinct types of strange attractor. / Master of Science / This report details the investigation into the Whirling Planar Pendulum system. The WPP is a pendulum that is spun around a vertical spin axis at a controllable horizontal offset. This system can be used to investigate what are known as local and global bifurcations. A local bifurcation occurs when the single equilibrium state (corresponding to the pendulum hanging straight down) when spun at low speeds, bifurcates into three equilibria when the spin rate is increased beyond a certain value. The global bifurcations occur when the system experiences sinusoidal forcing near certain equilibrium conditions. The resulting chaotic oscillations are investigated using Melnikov’s method, which determines when the sinusoidal forcing results in chaotic motion. This chaotic motion comes in two types, which cause the system to behave in different ways. Melnikov’s method, and results from a simulation were used to determine the parameter values in which the pendulum experiences each type of chaos. It was seen that at certain parameter values, the WPP experiences both types of chaos, supporting the observation that these types of chaos are not necessarily independent of each other, but can merge and interact.