Abstract: | The singularity structure of the solutions of a general third-order system, with polynomial right-hand sides of degree less than or equal to two, is studied about a movable singular point. An algorithm for transforming the given third-order system to a third-order Briot–Bouquet system is presented. The dominant behavior of a solution of the given system near a movable singularity is used to construct a transformation that changes the given system directly to a third-order Briot–Bouquet system. The results of Horn for the third-order Briot–Bouquet system are exploited to give the complete form of the series solutions of the given third-order system; convergence of these series in a deleted neighborhood of the singularity is ensured. This algorithm is used to study the singularity structure of the solutions of the Lorenz system, the Rikitake system, the three-wave interaction problem, the Rabinovich system, the Lotka–Volterra system, and the May–Leonard system for different sets of parameter values. The proposed approach goes far beyond the ARS algorithm. |