Mountain-climbing constructions for piecewise monotone functions (Q6562889)

Let \(\mathcal{M}\) denote the class of continuous piecewise monotone functions of the unit interval \([0,1]\) to itself where 0 and 1 are fixed points. For continuous piecewise monotone functions \(f \in \mathcal{F}\) and \(g \in \mathcal{G}\), where \(\mathcal{F}\) and \(\mathcal{G}\) are among ten subclasses of \(\mathcal{M}\), the author constructs functions \(h \in \mathcal{G}\) and \(k \in \mathcal{F}\) such that \(f \circ h = g \circ k\). These results extend previous non-constructive proofs of \textit{J. V. Whittaker} [Can. J. Math. 18, 873--882 (1966; Zbl 0144.18006)] and \textit{R. Sikorski} and \textit{K. Zarankiewicz} [Fundam. Math. 41, 339--344 (1955; Zbl 0064.05501)] since properties of the functions \(h\) and \(k\) are found. For instance, \(h\) and \(k\) are piecewise monotone and Lipschitz continuous. The motivation for this type of problem is the mountain-climbing problem, where \(f\) and \(g\) are profiles of paths of mountain climbers. The functions \(h\) and \(k\) coordinate the profiles so that the climbers are at the same altitude at the same time.