Barycentrically associative and preassociative functions (Q313422)

Let \(X\) and \(Y\) be arbitrary nonempty sets and let \(X^n\) be the set of all \(n\)-strings \(\mathbf{x}\) over \(X\). The empty string is denoted by \(\epsilon\). The set of all strings over \(X\) is \(X^*=\cup_{n \geq 0} X^n\). The set \(X^*\) is endowed with concatenation, i.e., if \(\mathbf{x} \in X^m\) and \(\mathbf{y} \in X^n\), then \(\mathbf{xy} \in X^{m+n}\). A function \(F:X^n \to Y\) is said \textit{\(n\)-ary}; similarly, a function \(F:X^* \to Y\) is said \textit{\(*\)-ary}. A \textit{\(*\)-ary operation} on \(X\) is a function \(F:X^* \to X\cup \{\epsilon\}\) and it is said to be \textit{\(\epsilon\)-standard} if \(F(\mathbf{x})=\epsilon\) if and only if \(\mathbf{x}=\epsilon\). A \(*\)-ary operation \(F:X^* \to X\cup \{\epsilon\}\) is said to be \textit{associative} if it satisfies the equation \[ F(\mathbf{xyz})=F(\mathbf{x}F(\mathbf{y})\mathbf{z}), \qquad \mathbf{xyz}\in X^*. \] A generalization of the notion of associativity is the following: A function \(F:X^* \to Y\) is said to be \textit{preassociative} if \[ F(\mathbf{y})=F(\mathbf{y}') \implies F(\mathbf{xyz})=F(\mathbf{x}F(\mathbf{y}')\mathbf{z}), \qquad \mathbf{xyy'z}\in X^*. \] The authors investigate a simultaneous generalization of preassociativity and barycentric associativity, called barycentric preassociativity. A function \(F:X^* \to Y\) is said to be \textit{barycentrically preassociative} (or \textit{B-preassociative}) if for every \(\mathbf{xyy'z}\in X^*\) such that the strings \(\mathbf{y}\) and \(\mathbf{y}'\) have the same length, it is \[ F(\mathbf{y})=F(\mathbf{y}') \Rightarrow F(\mathbf{xyz})=F(\mathbf{x}F(\mathbf{y}')\mathbf{z}). \] In the main section of the paper a characterization of a particular class of B-preassociative functions and a generalization of Kolmogoroff-Nagumo's characterization of the quasi-arithmetic mean functions to barycentrically preassociative functions is derived.