Canards in R3

We give a geometric analysis of canard solutions in three-dimensional singularly perturbed systems with a folded two-dimensional critical manifold. By analysing the reduced flow we obtain singular canard solutions passing through a singularity on the fold-curve. We classify these singularities, called canard points, as folded saddles, folded nodes, and folded saddle-nodes. We prove the existence of canard solutions in the case of the folded saddle. We show the existence of canards in the folded node case provided a generic non-resonance condition is satisfied and in a subcase of the folded saddle-node. The proof is based on the blow-up method. (C) 2001 Academic Press.