Stability of singular limit cycles for Abel equations revisited

A criterion is obtained for the semi-stability of the isolated singular positive closed solutions, i.e., singular positive limit cycles, of the Abel equation x' = A(t)x(3) +B(t)x(2), where A, B are smooth functions with two zeros in the interval [0, T] and where these singular positive limit cycles satisfy certain conditions, which allows an upper bound on the number of limit cycles of the Abel equation to be obtained. The criterion is illustrated by obtaining an upper bound of two positive limit cycles for the family A(t) = t (t - t(A)), B(t) = (t - t(B))(t - 1), t is an element of[0, 1]. In the linear trigonometric case, i.e., when A(t) = a(0) + a1 sin t +a(2) cost, B(t) = b(0) + b(1) sin t + b(2) cost, an upper bound of two limit cycles is also obtained for a0, b0 sufficiently small and in the region where two positive limit cycles bifurcate from the origin. (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc.