Although the title of this article specifies analytic functions, there are results for more general functions of a complex variable as well.
There are several notations describing infinite compositions, including the following:
Forward compositions:
Backward compositions:
In each case convergence is interpreted as the existence of the following limits:
For convenience, set Fn(z) = F1,n(z) and Gn(z) = G1,n(z).
One may also write and
Many results can be considered extensions of the following result:
Contraction Theorem for Analytic Functions[1]—Let f be analytic in a simply-connected region S and continuous on the closure S of S. Suppose f(S) is a bounded set contained in S. Then for all z in S there exists an attractive fixed point α of f in S such that:
Let {fn} be a sequence of functions analytic on a simply-connected domain S. Suppose there exists a compact set Ω ⊂ S such that for each n, fn(S) ⊂ Ω.
Forward (inner or right) Compositions Theorem—{Fn} converges uniformly on compact subsets of S to a constant function F(z) = λ.[2]
Backward (outer or left) Compositions Theorem—{Gn} converges uniformly on compact subsets of S to γ ∈ Ω if and only if the sequence of fixed points {γn} of the {fn} converges to γ.[3]
Additional theory resulting from investigations based on these two theorems, particularly Forward Compositions Theorem, include location analysis for the limits obtained in the following reference.[4] For a different approach to Backward Compositions Theorem, see the following reference.[5]
Regarding Backward Compositions Theorem, the example f2n(z) = 1/2 and f2n−1(z) = −1/2 for S = {z: |z| < 1} demonstrates the inadequacy of simply requiring contraction into a compact subset, like Forward Compositions Theorem.
For functions not necessarily analytic the Lipschitz condition suffices:
Theorem[6]—Suppose is a simply connected compact subset of and let be a family of functions that satisfies
:\quad \left|t_{n}(z_{1})-t_{n}(z_{2})\right|\leq \rho |z_{1}-z_{2}|,\quad \rho <1.}
Define:
Then uniformly on If is the unique fixed point of then uniformly on if and only if .
Non-contractive complex functions
Results involving entire functions include the following, as examples. Set
Theorem E2[8]—Set εn = |an−1| suppose there exists non-negative δn, M1, M2, R such that the following holds:
Then Gn(z) → G(z) is analytic for |z| < R. Convergence is uniform on compact subsets of {z: |z| < R}.
Additional elementary results include:
Theorem GF3[6]—Suppose where there exist such that implies Furthermore, suppose and Then for
Theorem GF4[6]—Suppose where there exist such that and implies and Furthermore, suppose and Then for
Theorem LFT1—On the set of convergence of a sequence {Fn} of non-singular LFTs, the limit function is either:
a non-singular LFT,
a function taking on two distinct values, or
a constant.
In (a), the sequence converges everywhere in the extended plane. In (b), the sequence converges either everywhere, and to the same value everywhere except at one point, or it converges at only two points. Case (c) can occur with every possible set of convergence.[10]
Theorem LFT2[11]—If {Fn} converges to an LFT, then fn converge to the identity function f(z) = z.
Theorem LFT3[12]—If fn → f and all functions are hyperbolic or loxodromic Möbius transformations, then Fn(z) → λ, a constant, for all , where {βn} are the repulsive fixed points of the {fn}.
Theorem LFT4[13]—If fn → f where f is parabolic with fixed point γ. Let the fixed-points of the {fn} be {γn} and {βn}. If
then Fn(z) → λ, a constant in the extended complex plane, for all z.
Continued fractions
The value of the infinite continued fraction
may be expressed as the limit of the sequence {Fn(0)} where
As a simple example, a well-known result (Worpitsky's circle theorem[14]) follows from an application of Theorem (A):
Consider the continued fraction
with
Stipulate that |ζ| < 1 and |z| < R < 1. Then for 0 < r < 1,
, analytic for |z| < 1. Set R = 1/2.
Example.
Example.[8] A fixed-point continued fraction form (a single variable).
Direct functional expansion
Examples illustrating the conversion of a function directly into a composition follow:
Example 1.[7][15] Suppose is an entire function satisfying the following conditions:
Theorem (B) can be applied to determine the fixed-points of functions defined by infinite expansions or certain integrals. The following examples illustrate the process:
Then calculate with ζ = 1, which gives: α = 0.087118118... to ten decimal places after ten iterations.
Theorem FP2[8]—Let φ(ζ, t) be analytic in S = {z: |z| < R} for all t in [0, 1] and continuous in t. Set
If |φ(ζ, t)| ≤ r < R for ζ ∈ S and t ∈ [0, 1], then
has a unique solution, α in S, with
Evolution functions
Consider a time interval, normalized to I = [0, 1]. ICAFs can be constructed to describe continuous motion of a point, z, over the interval, but in such a way that at each "instant" the motion is virtually zero (see Zeno's Arrow): For the interval divided into n equal subintervals, 1 ≤ k ≤ n set analytic or simply continuous – in a domain S, such that
where the integral is well-defined if has a closed-form solution z(t). Then
Otherwise, the integrand is poorly defined although the value of the integral is easily computed. In this case one might call the integral a "virtual" integral.
Example.
Example. Let:
Next, set and Tn(z) = Tn,n(z). Let
when that limit exists. The sequence {Tn(z)} defines contours γ = γ(cn, z) that follow the flow of the vector field f(z). If there exists an attractive fixed point α, meaning |f(z) − α| ≤ ρ|z − α| for 0 ≤ ρ < 1, then Tn(z) → T(z) ≡ α along γ = γ(cn, z), provided (for example) . If cn ≡ c > 0, then Tn(z) → T(z), a point on the contour γ = γ(c, z). It is easily seen that
and
when these limits exist.
These concepts are marginally related to active contour theory in image processing, and are simple generalizations of the Euler method
Self-replicating expansions
Series
The series defined recursively by fn(z) = z + gn(z) have the property that the nth term is predicated on the sum of the first n−1 terms. In order to employ theorem (GF3) it is necessary to show boundedness in the following sense: If each fn is defined for |z| < M then |Gn(z)| < M must follow before |fn(z)−z| =|gn(z)| ≤Cβn is defined for iterative purposes. This is because occurs throughout the expansion. The restriction
serves this purpose. Then Gn(z) → G(z) uniformly on the restricted domain.
Example (S1). Set
and M = ρ2. Then R = ρ2 − (π/6) > 0. Then, if , z in S implies |Gn(z)| < M and theorem (GF3) applies, so that
converges absolutely, hence is convergent.
Example (S2):
Products
The product defined recursively by
has the appearance
In order to apply Theorem GF3 it is required that:
Once again, a boundedness condition must support
If one knows Cβn in advance, the following will suffice:
Then Gn(z) → G(z) uniformly on the restricted domain.
Example (P1). Suppose with observing after a few preliminary computations, that |z| ≤ 1/4 implies |Gn(z)| < 0.27. Then
and
converges uniformly.
Example (P2).
Continued fractions
Example (CF1): A self-generating continued fraction.[8]
Gill, J. (1991). "The use of the sequence Fn(z)=fn∘⋯∘f1(z) in computing the fixed points of continued fractions, products, and series". Appl. Numer. Math. 8 (6): 469–476. doi:10.1016/0168-9274(91)90109-D.
de Pree, J. D.; Thron, W. J. (December 1962). "On sequences of Moebius transformations". Mathematische Zeitschrift. 80 (1): 184–193. doi:10.1007/BF01162375. S2CID120487262.
Mandell, Michael; Magnus, Arne (1970). "On convergence of sequences of linear fractional transformations". Mathematische Zeitschrift. 115 (1): 11–17. doi:10.1007/BF01109744. S2CID119407993.