(1) $f:\mathbb R\to \mathbb R$ is $C^\infty$. (2) $f^2:\mathbb R\to \mathbb R$ is $C^\infty$. (3) $f^2$ and $f^3:\mathbb R\to \mathbb R$ are both $C^\infty$. (4) $f^p$ and $f^q:\mathbb R\to \mathbb R$ are both $C^\infty$. Obviously, (1) $\implies$ (2), (3), (4). (2) $\implies$ $f$ is twice differentiable, in general not better. <BR> See:<BR> Dmitri Alekseevky, Andreas Kriegl, Mark Losik, Peter W. Michor: Choosing roots of polynomials smoothly, Israel J. Math 105 (1998), p. 203-233.[(pdf)][1] (3) $\implies$ (1). See: <BR> MR0682456 Joris, Henri: Une $C^\infty$-application non-immersive qui possède la propriété universelle des immersions. Arch. Math. (Basel) 39 (1982), no. 3, 269–277. <BR> and: <BR> MR2179865 Myers, Robert: An elementary proof of Joris's theorem. Amer. Math. Monthly 112 (2005), no. 9, 829–831. (4) $\implies$ (1). See:<BR> MR0833407 Duncan, John; Krantz, Steven G.; Parks, Harold R.: Nonlinear conditions for differentiability of functions. J. Analyse Math. 45 (1985), 46–68. [1]: http://www.mat.univie.ac.at/~michor/roots.pdf