Questions tagged [fractional-iteration]
The study of fractional self-iterations of a map. A basic example is the analysis of functional square roots of a map $g$, i.e. solutions $f$ to the functional equation $f \circ f = g$. The continuous version of fractional iteration concerns maps which have flows. This case is also known as continuous iteration. A classic example is the problem of extending tetration to the real and complex numbers.
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Does the formal power series solution to $f(f(x))= \sin( x) $ converge?
I have spent some time using gp-pari. There is, of course, a formal power series solution to
$ f(f(x)) = \sin x.$ It is displayed below, identified by the symbol $g$ because I am not entirely sure ...
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How to solve $f(f(x)) = \cos(x)$?
I found the following equation on some web page I cannot remember, and found it interesting:
$$f(f(x))=\cos(x)$$
Out of curiosity I tried to solve it, but realized that I do not have a clue how to ...
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solving $f(f(x))=g(x)$
This question is of course inspired by the question How to solve f(f(x))=cosx
and Joel David Hamkins' answer, which somehow gives a formal trick for solving equations of the form $f(f(x))=g(x)$ on a ...
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$f(f(x))=\exp(x)-1$ and other functions "just in the middle" between linear and exponential
The question is about the function $f(x)$ so that $f(f(x))=\exp (x)-1$.
The question is open ended and it was discussed quite recently in the comment thread in Aaronson's blog here http://...
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Does the exponential function have a (compositional) square root?
(asked by Nathaniel Hellerstein on the Q&A board at JMM)
Is there a "half-exponential" function $h(x)$ such that $h(h(x))=e^x$? Is it unique? Is it analytic?
Related question: Is there an ...
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"Closed-form" functions with half-exponential growth
Let's call a function f:N→N half-exponential if there exist constants 1<c<d such that for all sufficiently large n,
cn < f(f(n)) < dn.
Then my question is this: can we prove that no ...
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An explicit series representation for the analytic tetration with complex height
Tetration is the next hyperoperation after more familiar addition, multiplication and exponentiation. It can be seen as a repeated exponentiation, similar to how exponentiation can be seen as a ...
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Is there an "elegant" non-recursive formula for these coefficients? Also, how can one get proofs of these patterns?
Not sure if this is a "good" question for this forum or if it'll get panned, but here goes anyway...
Consider this problem. I've been trying to find a formula to expand the "regular iteration" of "...
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What's a natural candidate for an analytic function that interpolates the tower function?
I know that there are analytic functions whose composition with itself is the exponential function, the so-called functional square root of the exponential function, with the additional property that ...
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$f\circ f=g$ revisited
This may be related to solving $f(f(x))=g(x)$. Let
$C(\mathbb{R})$ be the linear space of all continuous functions from
$\mathbb{R}$ to $\mathbb{R}$, and let $\mathcal{S}:=\{g\in C(\mathbb{R}) ; \...
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Rational functions with a common iterate
Let $f$ and $g$ be two rational functions. To avoid trivialities, we suppose that their degrees are
at least $2$. We say that they have a common iterate if $f^m=g^n$ for some positive integers $m,n$,
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Do complex iterates of functions have any meaning?
Using a method explained in this answer to How to solve $f(f(x)) = \cos(x)$?, it is possible to calculate not only integer and real iterates of functions but also complex ones, for example, the $i$-th ...
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Finding f such that f(f(x))=g(x) given g
Suppose $g(x)$ is a smooth increasing function defined for $x \ge 0$ such that $g(x) \ge x$ for all $x$. Does there exist a function $f$ with similar properties such that $f(f(x))=g(x)$ for all $x \ge ...
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The non-convergence of f(f(x))=exp(x)-1 and labeled rooted trees
This question is closely related to MO f(f(x))=exp(x)-1 and other functions “just in the middle” between linear and exponential. Consider $e^{e^x-1}$, this is the generating function of the Bell ...
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solution of functional equation $f^{\circ k}(x) = x$
The equation $f^{\circ k}(x) = \mathrm{Id}$ for $x\in E$ is called the Babbage equation and the general solution is given in the following way [M. Kuczma, Functional equations in a single variable]:
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Smoothness in Ecalle's method for fractional iterates
Some four years ago I answered my own question on fractional iteration, concluding that there is a half iterate of sine, that is $f(f(x)) = \sin x,$ which is real analytic for $0 < x < \pi$ but ...
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Analytic Tetration and Natural Rates of Growth
What evidence do we have that the standard analytic tetration $F$ has a natural asymptotic rate of growth even at noninteger arguments?
Intuitively, $y=x$ has a natural growth rate, while $y=x+\sin(x)...
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On the relevance of the property $\exp^{\circ a}(\exp^{\circ b}(z))=\exp^{\circ a+b}(z)$ for the *fractional* iteration ("tetration")
In the concept of fractional iteration of the exponential function ("tetration") the property of $$\exp^{\circ a}(\exp^{\circ b}(z))=\exp^{\circ b}(\exp^{\circ a}(z))=\exp^{\circ a+b}(z) \...
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Given $g(h(z))$ is convergent, what can be said about the convergence of $g(z)$ and $h(z)$? [closed]
Consider the iterated function $f^t(z)=f(f(f(...f(z))...))$ where $t \in \mathbb Z$ and $f(z)$ is convergent. Then the iterates of $f(z)$ such as $f^2(z), f^3(z), f^4(z)$ are convergent. Now let $r \...