Degenerate bifurcation points of periodic solutions of autonomous Hamiltonian systems

Abstract

We study connected branches of non-constant {$2\pi$-pe}riodic solutions of the Hamilton equation \begin{displaymath} \dot{x}(t)=\lambda J\nabla H(x(t)), \end{displaymath} where $\lambda\in\halfline,$ $H\in C^2(\R^n\times\R^n,\R)$ and $ \displaystyle \nabla^2H(x_0)= [ \begin{array}{cc} A&0 0&B \end{array} ] $ for $x_0\in\nabla H^{-1}(0).$ The Hessian $\nabla^2H(x_0)$ can be singular. We formulate sufficient conditions for the existence of such branches bifurcating from given $(x_0,\lambda_0).$ As a consequence we prove theorems concerning the existence of connected branches of arbitrary periodic nonstationary trajectories of the Hamiltonian system $\dot{x}(t)=J\nabla H(x(t))$ emanating from $x_0.$ We describe also minimal periods of trajectories near $x_0.$