The \(C^1\) solutions of the series-like iterative equation with variable coefficients (Q1035091)

The authors consider the iterative functional equation \[ \sum^{\infty}_{i=1} \lambda_i(x)f^i(x)=F(x), \qquad x \in [a,b], \] where \(\lambda_i:I \to [0,1]\) are given continuous functions and \( \sum^{\infty}_{i=1} \lambda_i(x)=1\), \(\lambda_1(x)\geq c >0\). Defining \[ \mathcal {A}(M_1,M_2)=\{ \phi \in C^1(I,I): |\phi'(x)|\leq M_1, \quad |\phi'(x_1)-\phi'(x_2)|\leq M_2|x_1-x_2| \} \] they prove that if \(F\in \mathcal {A}(M_1,M_2)\) and \(N_1, N_2\) are related to \(M_1, M_2\) by means of certain inequalities, then the equation above has a solution \(f\) in \(\mathcal {A}(N_1,N_2)\). The proof makes use of Schauder's fixed point theorem. By adding a condition related to the parameters \(N_1\) and \(N_2\), it is possible to prove the uniqueness of the solution.