Continuity of iteration and approximation of iterative roots (Q609209)

Let \(I = [a,b] \subset \mathbb{R}\). We define \(C(I)\) to be the set of continuous functions \(f: I \to I\). It is proved that the operator \(T_{n}: C(I) \to C(I)\), where \(T_{n}f = f^{n}, f^{0}(x) = x, f^{k}(x) = f(f^{k-1}(x))\) for \(x \in I, f \in C(I)\) and \(k = 1, 2,\dots,n\), is continuous with respect to the supremum metric. Another result of this paper is the following. Let \(H(I)\) denote the set of all strictly increasing homeomorphisms of \(I\) onto \(I\) such that \(a < f(x) < x\) for \(x \in (a,b)\). If \(f, F_{m} \in H(I)\), \(F = f^{n}\) and \(F = \lim_{m \to \infty} F_{m}\), then there exists \(f_{m} \in H(I)\) such that \(F_{m} = f_{m}^{n}\) and \(\lim_{m \to \infty} f_{m} = f\) (in \(C(I)\)). The main proofs of this part of the paper are modeled after ones in the book of \textit{M. Kuczma, B. Choczewski} and \textit{R. Ger} [Iterative functional equations. Cambridge etc.: Cambridge University Press (1990; Zbl 0703.39005)].