Crossing limit cycles in piecewise smooth Kolmogorov systems: an application to Palomba's model

In this paper, we study the number of isolated crossing periodic orbits, so-called crossing limit cycles, for a class of piecewise smooth Kolmogorov systems defined in two zones separated by a straight line. In particular, we study the number of crossing limit cycles of small amplitude. They are all nested and surround one equilibrium point or a sliding segment. We denote by $\mathcal M_{K}^{p}(n)$ the maximum number of crossing limit cycles bifurcating from the equilibrium point via a degenerate Hopf bifurcation for a piecewise smooth Kolmogorov systems of degree $n=m+1$. We make a progress towards the determination of the lower bounds $M_K^p(n)$ of crossing limit cycles bifurcating from the equilibrium point via a degenerate Hopf bifurcation for a piecewise smooth Kolmogorov system of degree $n$. Specifically, we shot that $M_{K}^{p}(2)\geq 1$, $M_{K}^{p}(3)\geq 12$, and $M_{K}^{p}(4)\geq 18$. In particular, we show at least one crossing limit cycle in Palomba's economics model, considering it from a piecewise smooth point of view. To our knowledge, these are the best quotes of limit cycles for piecewise smooth polynomial Kolmogorov systems in the literature.