Twelve limit cycles around a singular point in a planar cubic-degree polynomial system

In this paper, we prove the existence of 12 small-amplitude limit cycles around a singular point in a planar cubic-degree polynomial system. Based on two previously developed cubic systems in the literature, which have been proved to exhibit 11 small-amplitude limit cycles, we applied a different method to show 11 limit cycles. Moreover, we show that one of the systems can actually have 12 small-amplitude limit cycles around a singular point. This is the best result so far obtained in cubic planar vector fields around a singular point. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.