On the equality of two-variable general functional means (Q2055249)

A continuous function \(M:I^2 \to I\) is called a two-variable mean on \(I\) if there holds the mean value inequality \[\min(x,y) \le M(x,y) \le \max (x,y) \quad (x,y \in I),\] where \(I\) is an open interval in \(\mathbb{R}\). The authors obtain a characterization of those pairs of functions \((f,g)\) and \((F,G)\) for which \[M_{f,g:\mu}(x,y)=M_{F,G:\mu}(x,y)\] holds. Here \[M_{f,g:\mu}(x,y):=\left(\frac{f}{g}\right)^{-1}\left(\frac{\int^{1}_{0}f(tx+(1-t)yd\mu(t)}{\int^{1}_{0}fg(tx+(1-t)yd\mu(t)}\right)\quad (x,y \in I),\] and \(\mu\) is a Borel measure on subsets of \([0,1].\) Under at most sixth-order differentiability assumptions for the unknown functions \(f, g\) and \(F,G\), the authors obtain several necessary conditions in terms of ordinary differential equations for existence of solutions of the above equation. For two particular measures, a complete description is obtained. These results offer eight equivalent conditions for Bajraktarević and Cauchy means.