M4.3 Fixed Points and Ivp
M4.3 Fixed Points and Ivp
2. Show that ex = x for some point x ∈ R. (Hint: Use the IVP for continuous functions).
3. Show that any continuous function f from [0, 1] to [0, 1] has a fixed point in [0, 1]. In other
words, show that there exists a point c ∈ [0, 1] such that f (c) = c.
Proof We will use the IVP. Let g(x) = f (x) − x. Then
g is continuous as the difference of two continuous functions, f (x) (by assumption) and
x.
Notice that f (x) ≤ 1 for all x ∈ [0, 1] because the range of f is included in [0, 1]. Also,
f (x) ≥ 0 for the same reason.
it follows from step 2 that g(1) = f (1) − 1 ≤ 0 and g(0) = f (0) − 0 ≥ 0, and so the
continuous function g(x) takes on positive as well as negative values.
Step 3 and the IVP imply that g(x) must be 0 at some point in [0, 1]. Thus there exits
a c ∈ [0, 1] such that g(c) = f (c) − c = 0. So, f (c) = c for some point in [0, 1] (called
fixed point because c gets mapped onto itself under f .
4. Is the converse of the IVP true? In other words, if a function f with the property that for any
two point a and b, f (x) assumes all values between f (a) and f (b), must f (x) be continuous?
Proof No. Give a counterexample.