English

How many times can a function be iterated?

Dynamical Systems 2011-11-08 v3 Algebraic Topology

Abstract

Let C be a closed subset of a topological space X, and let f : C --> X. Let us assume that f is continuous and f(x) lies in C for every x in the boundary of C. How many times can one iterate f? This paper provides estimates on the number of iterations and examples of their optimality. In particular we show how some topological properties of f, C, X are related to the maximal number of iterations, both in the case of functions and in the more general case of set-valued maps.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0901.3230,
  title  = {How many times can a function be iterated?},
  author = {Massimo Gobbino and Robert Samuel Simon},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0901.3230},
  year   = {2011}
}

Comments

28 pages, 8 figures, section with applications to game theory rewritten, references updated. To appear on the Journal of Difference Equations and Applications

R2 v1 2026-06-21T12:03:10.054Z