Limit cycles via higher order perturbations for some piecewise differential systems

Abstract A classical perturbation problem is the polynomial perturbation of the harmonic oscillator, ( x ′ , y ′ ) = ( − y + e f ( x , y , e ) , x + e g ( x , y , e ) ) . In this paper we study the limit cycles that bifurcate from the period annulus via piecewise polynomial perturbations in two zones separated by a straight line. We prove that, for polynomial perturbations of degree n , no more than N n − 1 limit cycles appear up to a study of order N . We also show that this upper bound is reached for orders one and two. Moreover, we study this problem in some classes of piecewise Lienard differential systems providing better upper bounds for higher order perturbation in e , showing also when they are reached. The Poincare–Pontryagin–Melnikov theory is the main technique used to prove all the results.