This book examines qualitative properties of vector fields in the plane, in the spirit of Hilbert's Sixteenth Problem. Two principal topics explored are bifurcations of limit cycles of planar vector fields and desingularization of singular points for individual vector fields and for analytic families of such fields. In addition to presenting important new developments in this area, this book contains an introductory paper which outlines the general context and describes connections between the papers in the volume. The book will appeal to researchers and graduate students working in the qualit.

This book examines qualitative properties of vector fields in the plane, in the spirit of Hilbert's Sixteenth Problem. Two principal topics explored are bifurcations of limit cycles of planar vector fields and desingularization of singular points for individual vector fields and for analytic families of such fields. In addition to presenting important new developments in this area, this book contains an introductory paper which outlines the general context and describes connections between the papers in the volume. The book will appeal to researchers and graduate students working in the qualitative theory of ordinary differential equations and dynamical systems.

Translations of articles on mathematics appearing in various Russian mathematical serials.

The 16th Problem of Hilbert is one of the most famous remaining unsolved problems of mathematics. It concerns whether a polynomial vector field on the plane has a finite number of limit cycles. There is a strong connection with divergent solutions of differential equations, where a central role is played by the Stokes Phenomenon, the change in asymptotic behaviour of the solutions in different sectors of the complex plane.The contributions to these proceedings survey both of these themes, including historical and modern theoretical points of view. Topics covered include the Riemann-Hilbert problem, Painleve equations, nonlinear Stokes phenomena, and the inverse Galois problem.