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 ...
Will Jagy's user avatar
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121 votes
12 answers
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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 ...
user4503's user avatar
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106 votes
9 answers
35k views

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 ...
Kevin Buzzard's user avatar
74 votes
15 answers
17k views

$f(f(x))=\exp(x)-1$ 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://...
Gil Kalai's user avatar
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52 votes
11 answers
24k views

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 ...
2010 Joint Meetings's user avatar
45 votes
2 answers
8k views

"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 ...
Scott Aaronson's user avatar
29 votes
3 answers
3k views

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 ...
Vladimir Reshetnikov's user avatar
48 votes
6 answers
6k views

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 "...
14 votes
6 answers
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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 ...
John Jiang's user avatar
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32 votes
0 answers
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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}) ; \...
Ady's user avatar
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29 votes
3 answers
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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 $m,n$, ...
Alexandre Eremenko's user avatar
26 votes
5 answers
3k views

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 ...
Anixx's user avatar
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13 votes
6 answers
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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 ...
David Corwin's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
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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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5 votes
1 answer
656 views

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]: ...
Lucy's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
423 views

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 ...
Will Jagy's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
285 views

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)...
Dmytro Taranovsky's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
351 views

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) \...
Gottfried Helms's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
331 views

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 \...
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