Applying the divergence theorem to find a trapping region

divergence-theoremdynamical systems

I want to check if my reasoning is correct. The problem is to show that the system

\begin{cases}
\dot x=x-y-x^3 \\
\dot y=x+y-y^3
\end{cases}

has a periodic solution.

In order to apply the Poincaré-Bendixson theorem, I need to find a trapping region.

I've already shown that the only fixed point is the origin. So, at this point my idea is to look for an annulus centered on the origin such that the flux of the vector field is positive through the smaller circle and negative through the larger one.

By integrating the divergence in a circle (say C) of radius r I get, after a few computations

\begin{gather*}
\iint_C [2-3(x^2+y^2)]\,dx\,dy=2\pi r^2(1-\frac{3}{4}r^2)
\end{gather*}

which is positive for $r<\frac{2}{\sqrt{3}}$ and negative for $r>\frac{2}{\sqrt{3}}$. Does this mean that I can take as a trapping region whatever annulus centered at the origin with radiuses that respectively smaller and greater than $\frac{2}{\sqrt{3}}$? Is this kind of reasoning correct?

Best Answer

It is better to note that $$ \frac12(x^2+y^2)'=xx'+yy'=x^2+y^2-(x^4+y^4) $$ is positive for very small $\|(x,y)\|$ and negative for very large $\|(x,y)\|$.

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