Mixed-mode oscillations in a nonlinear time delay oscillator with time varying parameters

In this study, the mechanism for the action of time-invariant delay on a non-autonomous system with slow parametric excitation is investigated. The complex mix-mode oscillations (MMOs) are presented when the parametric excitation item slowly passes through critical bifurcation values of this nonlinear time delay oscillator. We use bifurcation theory to clarify certain generation mechanism related to three complex spiking formations, i.e., "symmetric sup-pitchfork bifurcation", "symmetric sup-pitchforkisup-Hopf bifurcation", and "symmetric sup-pitchfork/sup-Hopf/homoclinic orbit bifurcation". Such bifurcation behaviors result in various hysteresis loops between the spiking attractor and the quasi-stationary process, which are responsible for the generation of MMOs. We further identify that the occurrence and evolution of such complex MMOs depend on the magnitude of the delay. Specifically, with the increase of time delay, the two limit cycles bifurcated from Hopf bifurcations may merge into an enlarged cycle, which is caused by a saddle homoclinic orbit bifurcation. We can conclude that time delay plays a vital role in the generation of MMOs. Our findings enrich the routes to spiking process and deepen the understanding of MMOs in time delay systems. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.