The stability of the equilibrium position of Hamiltonian systems with two degrees of freedom

The stability of the equilibrium position at the origin of coordinates of a Hamiltonian system with two degrees of freedom with a Hamiltonian, the unperturbed part of which generates oscillators with a cubic restoring force, is considered. It is proved that the equilibrium position is Lyapunov conditionally stable for initial values which do not belong to a certain surface of the Hamiltonian level. A reduction of the system onto this surface shows that, in the generic case, unconditional Lyapunov stability also occurs. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.