Global InformationContraction mapping information
In mathematics, a contraction mapping, or contraction or contractor, on a metric space (M, d) is a function f from M to itself, with the property that there is some real number such that for all x and y in M,
The smallest such value of k is called the Lipschitz constant of f. Contractive maps are sometimes called Lipschitzian maps. If the above condition is instead satisfied for k ≤ 1, then the mapping is said to be a non-expansive map.
More generally, the idea of a contractive mapping can be defined for maps between metric spaces. Thus, if (M, d) and (N, d') are two metric spaces, then is a contractive mapping if there is a constant such that
for all x and y in M.
Every contraction mapping is Lipschitz continuous and hence uniformly continuous (for a Lipschitz continuous function, the constant k is no longer necessarily less than 1).
A contraction mapping has at most one fixed point. Moreover, the Banach fixed-point theorem states that every contraction mapping on a non-empty complete metric space has a unique fixed point, and that for any x in M the iterated function sequence x, f (x), f (f (x)), f (f (f (x))), ... converges to the fixed point. This concept is very useful for iterated function systems where contraction mappings are often used. Banach's fixed-point theorem is also applied in proving the existence of solutions of ordinary differential equations, and is used in one proof of the inverse function theorem.[1]
Contraction mappings play an important role in dynamic programming problems.[2][3]
- ^ Shifrin, Theodore (2005). Multivariable Mathematics. Wiley. pp. 244–260. ISBN 978-0-471-52638-4.
- ^ Denardo, Eric V. (1967). "Contraction Mappings in the Theory Underlying Dynamic Programming". SIAM Review. 9 (2): 165–177. Bibcode:1967SIAMR...9..165D. doi:10.1137/1009030.
- ^ Stokey, Nancy L.; Lucas, Robert E. (1989). Recursive Methods in Economic Dynamics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. pp. 49–55. ISBN 978-0-674-75096-8.