The 2-sphere is Wecken for \(n\)-valued maps (Q2312039)

A space \(X\) is called a Wecken space if each map \(f:X\to X\) is homotopic to a map \(g:X\to X\) with exactly \(N(f)\) fixed points where \(N(f)\) is the Nielsen number of \(f\). Here, the authors study the Wecken property in the case of \(n\)-valued maps. A lower semicontinuous map \(\phi:X \multimap X\) is said to be \(n\)-valued if \(\phi(x)\) contains exactly \(n\) points for each \(x\in X\). \textit{H. Schirmer} [Fundam. Math. 124, 207--219 (1984; Zbl 0537.55006)] defined a Nielsen number for such mappings in case \(X\) is a finite polyhedron. The present authors show that the two-sphere \(S^2\) has the Wecken property for \(n\)-valued maps.