Dendriform equations (Q2267454)

In the paper under review the authors study a class of linear equations in dendriform algebras. The guiding principle is the intimate connection of such algebras to associative Rota-Baxter algebras, where analogous equations naturally appear in the context of applications ranging from numerical analysis to renormalization in perturbative quantum field theory. The authors obtain a recursive formula for the logarithm of the solutions of the two linear dendriform equations \(Y = {\mathbf 1}+\lambda a\prec Y\) and \(Z = {\mathbf 1}-\lambda Z\succ a\), \(a\in D\), in \(D[[\lambda]]\), where \((D,\prec,\succ)\) is a unital dendriform algebra. These two equations may be interpreted as first-order cases with respect to the parameter \(\lambda\). The authors introduce equations of arbitrary order in \(\lambda\) and show by transforming the higher-order equations into dendriform matrix equations that their solutions follow from the first-order ones. The work provides a refined approach to the classical Magnus expansion, well-known in the field of numerical analysis in the context of approximations of ordinary first-order linear differential and integral equations. In the paper this expansion involves the pre-Lie and associative products naturally associated with the underlying dendriform structure and displays their interesting interplay. This brings together the work of Magnus, Fer and Baxter on linear initial value problems and the corresponding integral equations. In the applications the authors touch initial value problems in matrix algebras and show how the Riccati differential equation is linked with a dendriform equation.