A generalization of the Babbage functional equation (Q2229372)

Recently, \textit{A. Cima} et al. [Ann. Mat. Pura Appl. (4) 194, No. 5, 1349--1357 (2015; Zbl 1352.37053); Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 167, No. 2, 295--320 (2019; Zbl 1423.37027)] proved a refinement of Kerekjarto's Theorem stating that in \(\mathbb{R}\) and \(\mathbb{R}^{2}\) all \(\mathcal{C}^{l}\)-solutions of the functional equation \(f^{n} = \text{Id}\) are \(\mathcal{C}^{l}\)-linearizable, where \(l \in {0, 1, \dots, \infty}\). If \(l\geq 1\) and over the real line the present author shows that the same result holds for solutions of \(f^{n} = f\), while he can only get a local version of it in the plane. The main goal of this work is to do a classification for the functional equation \(f^{n} = f^{k}\), where \(n, k \in \mathbb{N}\cup \{0\}\) and \(n > k\), which clearly is a generalization of the Babbage's functional equation. The author considers and classifies several cases, as for example the one-dimensional case, the two-dimensional case and higher dimensional cases for linearizable and holomorphic maps. For the one-dimensional case, the author provides results for \(f:I\rightarrow I\): \begin{itemize} \item[(a)] If \(f\) is an an idempotent differentiable function, then \(f\) is constant or the identity; \item[(b)] If \(f\) is differentiable solution of \(f^{3} = f\), then \(f\) is constant, the identity or an involution. \end{itemize} As an example, the author mentions that there exists a family of idempotent continuous functions not topologically conjugated with each other with cardinality \(|\mathbb{R}|\). Further, he considers \(n, k \in \mathbb{N}\cup \{0\}\) with \(n > k\) and \(f\) being continuous. If \(n-k\) is odd, \(f^{n} = f^{k}\) if and only if \(f^{k+1} = f^{k}\). If \(n-k\) is even, \(f^{n} = f^{k}\) if and only if \(f^{k+2} = f^{k}\). As an example, the author shows that there exists a family of smooth functions satisfying \(f^{3} = f^{2}\) not topologically conjugated with each other with cardinality \(|\mathbb{R}|\). Furthermore, he provides results on the circle by applying \(f:I\rightarrow I\) to \(f:\mathbb{S}^{1}\rightarrow \mathbb{S}^{1}\). Further, for \(f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}\), the author proves that: \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] If \(f\) is a differentiable function such that \(f^{n} = f\), then \(f\) is differentiably linearizable. Moreover, if \(f\in\mathcal{C}^{l}\), with \(l \in {1, \dots, \infty, \omega}\), then it is \(\mathcal{C}^{l}\)-linearizable; \item[(ii)] If \(f\) is an analytic function satisfying \(f^{n} = f^{k}\), then \(f\) is \(\mathcal{C}^{\omega}\)-linearizable. \end{itemize} For two-dimensional case and \(f:\mathbb{R}^{2}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}^{2}\), the author shows that: \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] If \(f\) is smooth, non-periodic and non-constant, then \(f^{n} = f\) if and only if \(f^{3} = f\); \item[(ii)] If \(f\) is a \(\mathcal{C}^{l}\)-solution of \(f^{n} = f\) with \(l \in {1, \dots, \infty}\), then in a neighborhood of Im \(f\), \(f\) is \(\mathcal{C}^{l}\)-linearizable. \end{itemize} The author also gives examples: \begin{itemize} \item[(1)] An infinite family of two-variable idempotent polynomial functions not topologically conjugated with each other and not linearizable; \item[(2)] Let \(g(x, y) = x + yx^{2}\). Then \(\nabla g(x, y) \neq (0, 0)\) for all \(x, y \in \mathbb{R}\) and the polynomial function \(f(x, y) = (g(x, y), 0)\) is idempotent and not linearizable. \end{itemize} In \(\mathbb{R}^{m}\) the author proves that if \(f\) is a \(\mathcal{C}^{l}\)-solution of \(f^{n} = f^{k}\), where \(n, k \in \mathbb{N}\cup \{0\}\) and \(n > k\) with \(l \in {1, \dots, \infty}\) and \(d=\mathrm{dim}(\text{Im} f^{k})\leq 2\), then Im (\(f^{k}\)) is a \(\mathcal{C}^{l}\)-submanifold diffeomorphic to \(\mathbb{R}^{d}\). The author also explores basic properties of the solutions of \(f^{n} = f^{k}\), where \(n, k \in \mathbb{N}\cup \{0\}\) and \(n > k\) when the map is defined on manifolds. At the end of the paper he shows that not only the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in any dimension is an idempotent process, but it is also conjugated to a projection.