On a problem of Janusz Matkowski and Jacek Wesołowski (Q1662415)

Let \(f_0,\ldots, f_N:\, [0,1]\to [0,1]\) be a family of strictly increasing contractions such that \[ 0=f_0(0)<f_0(1)=f_1(0)<\dots <f_{N-1}(1)=f_N(0)<f_N(1)=1,\qquad N\in\mathbb{N}. \] The main subject of study in this paper is the class \(\mathcal{C}\) of all continuous and increasing functions \(\varphi:\, [0,1]\to [0,1]\) that satisfy the following conditions \[ \varphi(x)\, =\, \sum\limits_{n=0}^N\varphi(f_n(x))\, -\, \sum\limits_{n=1}^N\varphi(f_n(0)) \] and \(\varphi(0)=0, \varphi(1)=1\). Each set positive numbers satisfying \(\sum_{n=0}^Np_n = 1\) is associated with a probability measure \(\mu\) such that \[ \mu(A)\, =\, \sum\limits_{n=0}^Np_n\mu(f^{-1}_n(A)) \] for every Borel set \(A\subset[0,1]\). In the paper, it is proved that the function \[ \varphi(x)\, =\, \mu([0,x]),\qquad 0\leq x\leq 1, \] belongs to \(\mathcal{C}\). Denote by \(\mathcal{C}_a\) a subset of \(\mathcal{C}\) consisting of all absolutely continuous functions. It is proved that if \(f_0,\ldots, f_N\in C^2([0,1])\) and there exist \(\lambda\in(0,1)\) and \(c\in(0,\infty)\) such that \(0<f^{\prime}_n(x)\leq\lambda\) and \(f^{\prime\prime}_n(x)\leq cf^{\prime}_n(x)\) for all \(n=0,\ldots,N\) and \(x\in[0,1]\), then \(\mathcal{C}_a\) consists of exactly one function. The case when \(f_0,\ldots, f_N\) are similitudes. In particular, the results obtained here provide an answer to the problem posed in [\textit{J. Matkowski}, Aequationes Math. 29, 210--213 (1985; Zbl 0583.39009)].