VECTOR FIELDS IN ℝ2 WITH MAXIMAL INDEX

We consider the method of Poincare to investigate the local index of vector fields in the plane. If m is the degree of the first non-zero jet, Xm, of the vector field X at an isolated zero, we explore the geometry of the pencil generated by the coordinate functions of Xm when the absolute value of the index of X, |ind (X)|, is m. We also find necessary and sufficient conditions for |ind (X)| to be m.