Hyers-Ulam stability for linear equations of higher orders (Q949860)

The authors deal with the Hyers--Ulam stability of the \(m\)th-order iterative functional equation \[ \varphi(f^m(x))=\sum_{j=0}^{m-1}a_j\varphi(f^j(x))+F(x)\qquad (x\in S). \] The main result of the paper states that if, for all roots \(r\) of the characteristic equation \[ r^m=\sum_{j=0}^{m-1}r^j, \] the first-order equation \[ \varphi(f(x))=r\varphi(x)+F_0(x)\qquad (x\in S) \] is stable in the sense of Hyers and Ulam, then the \(m\)th-order equation is also stable in a similar sense. The main cases when the first-order equation is stable are also discussed. As an application, the solvability of the inhomogeneous \(m\)th-order equation is proved and an error-bound estimate is obtained for the distance from the solution of the corresponding homogeneous equation.