A route to limit cycles via unfolding the pitchfork with feedback

Motivated by the problem of developing a system that can switch between low-level control vector fields, we study the feedback interconnection of a decision mechanism based on the pitchfork bifurcation with a plant whose dynamics are given by the linear combination of two control vector fields; the state of the pitchfork system then determines the linear combination coefficients for the plant. We show how the plant state can be fed back to the pitchfork by using the Lyapunov functions of the control vector fields as an unfolding parameter in the pitchfork, and derive conditions under which the closed-loop system exhibits a Hopf bifurcation leading to stable limit cycles.