Koopman analysis of the singularly perturbed van der Pol oscillator

The Koopman operator framework holds promise for spectral analysis of nonlinear dynamical systems based on linear operators. Eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Koopman operator, the so-called Koopman eigenvalues and Koopman eigenfunctions, respectively, mirror global properties of the system's flow. In this paper, we perform the Koopman analysis of the singularly perturbed van der Pol system. First, we show the spectral signature depending on singular perturbation: how two Koopman principal eigenvalues are ordered and what distinct shapes emerge in their associated Koopman eigenfunctions. Second, we discuss the singular limit of the Koopman operator, which is derived through the concatenation of Koopman operators for the fast and slow subsystems. From the spectral properties of the Koopman operator for the singularly perturbed system and the singular limit, we suggest that the Koopman eigenfunctions inherit geometric properties of the singularly perturbed system. These results are applicable to general planar singularly perturbed systems with stable limit cycles.