Probabilistic \(G\)-contractions (Q2510618)

Fixed point theory is an important branch of functional analysis, which is closely related to the existence of solutions for differential and integral equations. Many fixed point results have been obtained for contractions in partially ordered metric spaces. Specifically, \textit{J. Jachymski} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 136, No. 4, 1359--1373 (2008; Zbl 1139.47040)] established a generalized and novel theorem by utilizing a graph theoretic approach. From then on, investigations have been carried out to obtain better and generalized versions by weakening contraction conditions and analyzing connectivity of a graph. Since probabilistic metric spaces are a more general framework than metric spaces, is is natural to ask: Is it possible to establish a probabilistic version of the result of Jachymski? Motivated by the work of Jachymski [loc.\,cit.], the authors give an affirmative answer to this question in this paper. They introduce the notion of probabilistic \(G\)-contraction and establish some fixed point theorems in such settings. The results generalize and extend some recent results of Jachymski as well as\textit{V. M. Sehgal} and \textit{A. T. Bharucha-Reid} [Math. Syst. Theory 6, 97--102 (1972; Zbl 0244.60004)]. They also apply the main results to the setting of cyclical contractions and to that of \((\epsilon,\delta)\)-contractions, and obtain fixed point results for \((\epsilon,\delta)\)-chainable PM-spaces and for cyclic operators. The results are interesting and meaningful.