FitzHugh-Nagumo equation: bifurcations, slow-fast system and dynamics near infinity

Abstract

In this paper, we present a qualitative and bifurcation analysis of the three-parameter FitzHugh-Nagumo system and its compactified formulation. The study is structured according to three parameter-dependent regimes, for which the associated phase portraits are characterized. In one of these regimes, the system exhibits a double-zero bifurcation with $Z_2$ symmetry, corresponding to a codimension-two degeneracy. We compute explicit bifurcation and transition curves arising in the unfolding of this singularity, including pitchfork, Hopf, Belyakov, and double homoclinic bifurcations, and we construct the corresponding bifurcation diagrams. The local bifurcation analysis is linked to the slow-fast structure of the model, highlighting the emergence of canard solutions and their role in organizing the dynamics. In addition, we analyze the global behavior of the system by studying the dynamics at infinity through compactification techniques. The results obtained complement and extend earlier studies on global bifurcations in the FitzHugh-Nagumo model, in particular those reported by Georgescu, Rocsoreanu, and Giurgiteanu in "Global Bifurcations in FitzHugh-Nagumo Model", Trends in Mathematics: Bifurcations, Symmetry and Patterns (2003).