Functional square root
Function that, applied twice, gives another function From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In mathematics, a functional square root (sometimes called a half iterate) is a square root of a function with respect to the operation of function composition. In other words, a functional square root of a function g is a function f satisfying f(f(x)) = g(x) for all x.
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Notation
Notations expressing that f is a functional square root of g are f = g[1/2] and f = g1/2[citation needed][dubious – discuss], or rather f = g 1/2 (see Iterated function#Fractional_iterates_and_flows,_and_negative_iterates), although this leaves the usual ambiguity with taking the function to that power in the multiplicative sense, just as f ² = f ∘ f can be misinterpreted as x ↦ f(x)².
History
- The functional square root of the exponential function (now known as a half-exponential function) was studied by Hellmuth Kneser in 1950, later providing the basis for extending tetration to non-integer heights in 2017.[1]
- The solutions of f(f(x)) = x over (the involutions of the real numbers) were first studied by Charles Babbage in 1815, and this equation is called Babbage's functional equation.[2] A particular solution is f(x) = (b − x)/(1 + cx) for bc ≠ −1. Babbage noted that for any given solution f, its functional conjugate Ψ−1∘ f ∘ Ψ by an arbitrary invertible function Ψ is also a solution. In other words, the group of all invertible functions on the real line acts on the subset consisting of solutions to Babbage's functional equation by conjugation.
Solutions
A systematic procedure to produce arbitrary functional n-roots (including arbitrary real, negative, and infinitesimal n) of functions relies on the solutions of Schröder's equation.[3][4][5] Infinitely many trivial solutions exist when the domain of a root function f is allowed to be sufficiently larger than that of g.
Examples
Summarize
Perspective
- f(x) = 2x2 is a functional square root of g(x) = 8x4.
- A functional square root of the nth Chebyshev polynomial, , is , which in general is not a polynomial.
- is a functional square root of .

- sin[2](x) = sin(sin(x)) [red curve]
- sin[1](x) = sin(x) = rin(rin(x)) [blue curve]
- sin[1/2](x) = rin(x) = qin(qin(x)) [orange curve], although this is not unique, the opposite - rin being a solution of sin = rin ∘ rin, too.
- sin[1/4](x) = qin(x) [black curve above the orange curve]
- sin[–1](x) = arcsin(x) [dashed curve]
Using this extension, sin[1/2](1) can be shown to be approximately equal to 0.90871.[6]
(See.[7] For the notation, see Archived 2022-12-05 at the Wayback Machine.)
See also
References
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