Criterion to identify Hopf bifurcations in maps of arbitrary dimension.

The classical Hopf bifurcation criterion is stated in terms of the properties of eigenvalues. In this paper, a criterion without using eigenvalues is proposed for maps of arbitrary dimension. The parameter mechanism of Hopf bifurcation may be explicitly formulated on the basis of the criterion. A numerical example demonstrates that the proposed criterion is preferable to the classical Hopf bifurcation criterion in theoretical analysis and practical applications.