1. Introduction
M. Fréchet introduced a mapping to measure what he called “l’écart des deux éléments” (distance between two points) in his doctoral thesis [
1], presented at the Faculty of Sciences of Paris and published in Italy in 1906. The conditions of this mapping are the axioms of a metric space. The name of metric space, however, is due to F. Hausdorff, who treated the topic in his book “
Grundzüge der Mergenlehre” of 1914 [
2]. Previously, Hilbert [
3] and Riemann [
4] had shaken the foundations of classical geometry, proposing new axiomatic systems, with precedents in Gauss, Lobachevsky, and Bolyai.
Nowadays, the conditions of a mapping being a distance have been modified in very different ways, giving rise to a great variety of distance spaces (see, for instance, the books [
5,
6]).
Particularly interesting are the metrics associated with discrete mathematics, that concerns the knowledge and control of complex systems (see [
7]). As an example, one may mention the Hamming distance, that measures the number of different bits of two code words, and it quantifies the error of transmission [
8].
In this paper, we work with a generalization of a metric space, called in the literature the b-metric or quasi-metric space, that substitutes the triangular inequality by a more general condition. Closely related to metric theory (that gives rise to a class of topological spaces) is fixed-point theory, that establishes conditions for a self-map
in order to have a fixed point. The problem of finding a fixed point is intrinsically linked to the sought for solutions of one or several equations, since the equality
admits the form
, in the case of an underlying vector space
X. Important and recent applications of fixed-point theorems can be found in references [
9,
10], for instance. But these are not the only implications of the theory, since this area of mathematical knowledge has given rise to modern fields of research like fractal theory and others.
The content of this paper can be summarized as follows. In
Section 2, the dynamics of a large class of contractions called (
)-contractivities [
11,
12] is explored. Some sufficient conditions for the existence of fixed points are proposed, and the convergence of the Picard iterations for their approximation is studied for both cases, single- and multivalued mappings. Some error estimates for the Picard approximation are also given. For a study of multivalued mappings in b-metric spaces the reader may consult the reference [
13].
Section 3 studies the stability of the fixed points’
-partial contractivities, proving that they are asymptotically stable in the case of their existence.
Section 4 analyzes the iterative algorithm for fixed-point approximation proposed by Kirk in reference [
14], when it is applied to a
-contractivity defined on a quasi-normed space.
The properties proved can be applied to other types of contractions, since the self-maps considered contain many others as particular cases. For instance, if the underlaying set is a metric space, the contractions of type Kannan, Chatterjea, Zamfirescu, Ćirić, and Reich are included in the class of contractivities studied in this paper (see Corollary 2.2 of reference [
11]).
Section 5 considers fractal surfaces whose values lie on Banach algebras. The mappings defining the surfaces are fixed points of an operator on a Bochner functional space. The convergence and stability of Picard and Kirk iterations for their approximation are analyzed, giving in both cases an estimate of the error.
Section 6 studies a particular case, where the vertical contraction is linear and bounded. Fractal convolutions of mappings and operators are defined, and the construction of bivariate fractal frames of the Bochner space of square-integrable mappings on a Hilbert space is undertaken, considering fractal perturbations of standard frames in the same space.
2. Existence of Fixed Points and Convergence of Picard Iterations
In this section, we explore the dynamics of a large class of contractions [
11,
12]. We provide sufficient conditions for the existence of fixed points, and the convergence of the Picard iterations for their approximation for both single- and multivalued mappings. Some “a priori” error estimates for the Picard approximation are also given.
Let us start with the definition of b-metric space.
Definition 1. A b-metric space X is a set endowed with a mapping with the following properties:
- 1.
if and only if .
- 2.
for any
- 3.
There exists such that for any
The constant s is the index of the b-metric space, and d is called a b-metric.
Example 1. The spaces for are b-metric spaces of index with respect to the functional Other examples can be found in reference [
15], for instance.
Given any
where
X is a b-metric space with index
s, one has the following inequality for
:
The next definition can be read in reference [
16].
Definition 2. A map is called a comparison function if it satisfies the following conditions:
Let X be a b-metric space. A map such that for any where φ is a comparison function, is called a contraction or a Matkowski contraction [17]. Example 2. The maps and where are comparison functions.
The first aim of this article is the presentation of a new concept of contractivity, presenting maps that include the usual
-contractions like a particular case, according to the following definition [
11,
12].
Definition 3. Let X be a b-metric space, and be a self-map such that for any ,If φ is a comparison function, ψ is positive, and , then T is a ()-partial contractivity. If where and with , T is a partial contractivity. If is the null function, we have a standard -contraction. If further , where , then T is a Banach contraction.
Example 3. Let be defined in Then, T is a ()-partial contractivity with and for
Example 4. Let and T be defined as if and if T is a ()-partial contractivity with and
If , then If , then If and ,
Remark 1. Let us note that, unlike the φ-contractive case, a partial contractivity need not be continuous.
In previous articles, we proved that several well known contractivities, like Zamfirescu or quasi-contractions, belong to the class of (
)-partial contractivities, when the constants associated satisfy some restrictions (see, for instance, [
12]). The next result can be read in Proposition 15 of the same reference.
Proposition 1. Let X be a b-metric space and be a ()-partial contractivity. If T has a fixed point, it is unique.
We start with a result concerning the orbit separations in the case where , for
Definition 4. A functional where X is a real linear space, is sublinear if
for any such that .
for any and such that .
Example 5. The absolute value of a real number is a sublinear function. In general, a seminorm is sublinear.
Proposition 2. Let X be a b-metric space and be a ()-partial contractivity, where φ is a sublinear comparison function and , for Then, for all ,where denotes the identity map. If and , then for any Consequently, Proof. For
the result is clear since
by definition of (
)-partial contractivity. Let us assume that Formula (
3) is valid for
and any
:
and let us prove it for
By definition of (
)-partial contractivity for
Applying the subadditivity of
and the inductive hypothesis in the first term of the last sum,
For the second summand, applying the inductive hypothesis for
x and
, we have
Let us consider the map
Developing both binomials, and bearing in mind the property of the combinatorial numbers,
for
and
we obtain that
Thus, adding (
5) and (
6),
and consequently, the result.
If
then
Applying iteratively the definition of the contractivity,
The conditions on the comparison function
imply that
when
n tends to infinity. □
Remark 2. For the inequality (4), the hypotheses of sublinearity of φ and linearity of ψ are not required. Corollary 1. Let X be a b-metric space and be a partial contractivity, that is to say, and , for Then, for all ,Consequently, If , Proof. The rates of orbit separation are straightforward consequences of the expressions (
3) and (
4). □
Corollary 2. Let X be a b-metric space and be a partial contractivity, that is to say, and , for Then, for all ,If , T is asymptotically regular, that it to say,and all the orbits are bounded. If , the orbit of an element may be unbounded. For all the orbits are bounded and they are stable in the sense of Lagrange. Proof. It suffices to take
in the inequality (
7) to obtain the inequality. The second result comes also from the fact that if
,
T has a fixed point, it is unique (see reference [
11]), and all the orbits are convergent to the fixed point, and consequently, they are bounded. □
Remark 3. In fact, according to (3), T is asymptotically regular if there exists with such that for any since substituting into inequality (3), and tends to zero when n tends to infinity. Example 6. The ()-partial contractivity satisfying the inequalityfor and is asymptotically regular, taking . Proposition 3. Let X be a b-metric space and be a ()-partial contractivity. Let us assume that there is a fixed point then for all Consequently, the Picard iterations of any are convergent to the fixed point and the order of convergence is If for , the order of convergence is Proof. It suffices to apply the definition of ()-partial contractivity. □
In the following, we give a result of fixed-point existence for -partial contractivities where
Theorem 1. If X is a complete b-metric space, is a -partial contractivity where , and there exists a real constant k such that satisfying the inequalityfor all , then T has a unique fixed point and tends to for any Proof. Defining the sequence
,
we have
and
If
,
is a Cauchy sequence [
18], and consequently, it is convergent to
, let us see that
is a fixed point of
T.
For a comparison function
, and thus,
. Then, all the right-hand terms tend to zero, and consequently,
. The uniqueness was proved in Proposition 15 of reference [
12]. □
Example 7. A ()-partial contractivity where and defined on a complete b-metric space has a unique fixed point.
Remark 4. For the case and , we obtain a partial contractivity, and the sufficient conditions for the existence of fixed point are and X is complete. This result was proved in reference [11]. In the next theorem, we give an estimation of the error in the fixed-point approximation. Considering the sequence of Picard iterations
defined as
, it is clear, by definition of
-partial contractivity, that
However, it is difficult to know the distance between an element
and the sought fixed point, thus we will give an error estimation in terms of
, a quantity easier to find.
Theorem 2. Let X be a b-metric space, and T be a -partial contractivity, such that Let us assume that the mapsare such that for all Then, if and Proof. Inequality (
1) implies that
Then, using (
10),
If
, then
Using (
13) in the first term of the right-hand side,
Taking limits when
j tends to infinity, the second and third terms of the right-hand side tend to zero, due to the hypothesis of the theorem and inequality (
11), respectively. Then,
□
Corollary 3. In the particular case where with , we have the following “a priori” error estimation for partial contractivities such that :In the case where T is a Banach contraction, and the former expression generalizes the inequality given by Bakhtin [19,20] for this type of map. The next result concerns set-valued maps satisfying a condition of partial contractivity type. Let us start with some definitions. Given a metric space
X, let us consider the set of all nonempty bounded subsets of
X,
. Let us define the functional
Let us consider the distance of a point to a set
Theorem 3. Let X be a complete b-metric space, and let be a set-valued map. Assume that there exist and such that satisfying the inequalityfor any Then, τ has a fixed point , and there exists a partial contractivity whose unique fixed point is Additionally,and, if Proof. Let us define a map
such that
and let us see that
T is a partial contractivity:
for any
Consequently,
T is a partial contractivity. Since
T has a fixed point
By definition of
T,
, and consequently, it is a fixed point of
as well. Applying the contractivity condition (
14),
Since
the terms of the right-hand side are null, and
reduces to the single point
The error estimate of the statement was proved in Corollary 3. □
Example 8. Let us consider the closed unit ball in and defined as . Then, The map τ fulfills the inequalityfor any The constants satisfy the conditions of Theorem 3 and τ has as a unique fixed point since and, if x does not belong to 3. Stability of Fixed Points of a -Partial Contractivity
In this paragraph, we study the fixed-point stability -partial contractivities. We consider ()-contractivities as described in Definition 3. Let denote the set of fixed points of Let us remember that if a -partial contractivity has a fixed point, it is unique. Let denote the set of neighborhoods of
Definition 5. Le X be a b-metric space, and . Then, G is positively invariant if
Proposition 4. If X is a b-metric space, and T is a -partial contractivity with a fixed point , then any (open or closed) ball centered at the fixed point is a positively invariant set.
Proof. Let
for
, then applying the definition of
-partial contractivity,
since a comparison function satisfies the inequality
for all
(see, for instance, [
16]). Hence,
□
Definition 6. Le X be a b-metric space, and . Then, is stable if for any if there exists such that for all
If is stable and there exists such that for any , then is asymptotically stable.
Proposition 5. Le X be a b-metric space, and be a -partial contractivity such that . Then, the Picard iterations converge for any to the fixed point with asymptotical stability.
Proof. Let
and
such that
, Then, if
,
Consequently,
for all
, and
is stable. Moreover,
due to the definition of the comparison function. Hence,
is asymptotically stable, and it is a global attractor, as proved previously. □
4. Convergence and Stability of the Kirk Iterations
In this section, the iterative algorithm for fixed-point approximation proposed by Kirk in reference [
14] is analyzed for when it is applied to a
-contractivity defined on a quasi-normed space.
Definition 7. If E is a real linear space, the mapping is a quasi-norm of index s if
- 1.
; if and only if
- 2.
.
- 3.
There exists such that for any
The space is a quasi-normed space. If E is complete with respect to the b-metric induced by the quasi-norm, then E is a quasi-Banach space. Obviously, if then E is a normed space.
The index of a quasi-norm is called sometimes the modulus of concavity of X.
Example 9. The spaces for are quasi-normed spaces of index with respect to the functional Kirk’s algorithm [
14] is given by the scheme of order k:
where
,
for
,
and
For
, the algorithm agrees with the Krasnoselskii method [
21]. If additionally the coefficients change at every step, one has the Mann iteration [
22].
Let us define the Kirk operator
where
X is a quasi-normed space, as
Kirk proved that the set of fixed points of a nonexpansive mapping
T in a Banach space agrees with the set of fixed points of
, that is to say,
He proved also that if
and
X is uniformly convex, then
is asymptotically regular, that is to say,
Let us study the convergence and stability of this algorithm for the approximation of the fixed point of a
-partial contractivity
T in a quasi-normed space.
If
and
,
Applying the definition of
-partial contractivity,
defining
as always. Let us assume that the map
defined as
is a comparison function. In this case, we have
and, in general,
Consequently, the Kirk iterations are convergent to the fixed point
with asymptotic stability as in the previous section. For the particular case where
, assuming that
the Kirk algorithm is convergent and stable since, from (
18), we have
The order of convergence of the iteration is
In the normed case, where
, this is always true since
due to the conditions on
, and we have the following theorem:
Theorem 4. If X is a normed space, is a -partial contractivity where and is a fixed point, the Kirk iteration () is convergent, asymptotically stable and asymptotically regular for any values of and
Kirk proved that the iterates of his algorithm converge weakly to a fixed point of a nonexpansive mapping, according to the next theorem [
14].
Theorem 5. Let X be a uniformly convex Banach space, K be a closed, bounded, and convex subset of X, and be a nonexpansive mapping. Then, for the sequence converges weakly to a fixed point of T.
We give in the following a variant of this theorem.
Theorem 6. Let X be a quasi-Banach space, K be a closed and convex subset of X, and be a ()-contraction where ψ is the null function. Then, , and the Kirk iterations converge strongly to the fixed point for any if the map ϕ defined in (17) is a comparison function. Proof. A (
)-contractivity where
is a nonexpansive mapping, since
for any
But, according to the hypotheses,
T is also a
-contraction on a complete b-metric space, consequently it has a single fixed point [
23] and the Picard iterations are strongly convergent to it. Due to (
18), the Kirk iterations have the same properties if
is a comparison function. □
5. Banach-Valued Fractal Surfaces
In this section, we define fractal surfaces whose values lie on Banach algebras. The convergence and stability of Picard and Kirk iterations for their approximation are also analyzed, giving in both cases an estimate of the error.
The mappings defining the surfaces are fixed points of an operator on the space of bivariate p-integrable maps on a Banach algebra
,
, where
I and
J are real compact intervals. For
this space is Banach with respect to the norm
where
is the norm in
For
, the space is quasi-Banach with modulus of concavity
Consequently, in all the cases
is a complete b-metric space.
Let us consider partitions for the intervals
I and
J,
for
, and
for
Let us consider subintervals
for
and
for
Let us define the affine maps
satisfying the conditions
for
and
Given two maps
, let us define
for
and
, with the same ranges of indexes. The case where
and
was treated in reference [
24].
Let us assume that the operator
defined for
as
is a
-contraction with respect to
for
It is an easy exercise to prove that
is also a comparison function.
Let us define the operator
for
and
. In order to simplify the notation, let us define
for any
and write
for
Let us see that
T is a
-contraction:
With the change
and
and renaming the variables, we have
By definition of the operator
(
21),
Using the fact that
is a
-contraction,
Consequently,
But
due to conditions (
20), and thus,
T is a
-contraction, and consequently, is a (
)-contractivity with
. Since
is quasi-Banach, and thus, a complete b-metric space,
T has a single fixed point
, and the Picard iterations of any point are convergent to it. The graph of
has a fractal structure (see Theorem 5 of reference [
25]). The order of convergence is
for any
In the particular case where
for
, according to Corollary 3,
for
, and
for
if
, with
The fixed point
satisfies the functional equation
for
.
Let us consider now the Kirk iteration, and the case where
Let us define
and assume that
Denoting the Kirk iterates as
bearing in mind the estimation (
19),
for
Thus, the Kirk iterations are convergent with a rate of convergence
. This is always true in the normed case (
) since
due to the definition of
.
Consequently, the Kirk iteration is convergent in the normed case for any values of the coefficients, with asymptotic stability. Since the Kirk operator
is also a Banach contraction if
, we obtain error estimates for Kirk iterations as well:
for
, and
for
if
, where
and
r is defined as in (
27) in this second case.
6. Fractal Surfaces with Linear Vertical Contractions
Let us consider in this section the case where the vertical contraction operator
, defined as
(see (
21)), is linear and bounded.
We will define fractal convolutions of mappings and operators, and we will construct bivariate fractal frames of the Hilbert space as fractal perturbations of standard frames in this space.
For the first part of (
23), we have
If
then
T is a Banach contraction in a quasi-Banach space. Consequently, it has a fixed point
that is a bivariate mapping
whose values are in the algebra
Some choices for a linear operator may be , where and or , with where · represents the product in the algebra In the first case, for we have the classical vertical contraction of the fractal interpolation functions.
Remark 5. Let us notice that we use the same notation for the norms of maps and linear operators () in order to simplify the text.
The estimation of the Picard iterations for the approximation of the fixed point
(
24) and (
25) holds in this case as well, substituting
a by
C, and considering the hypothesis
in the second error estimation (
).
We can define the operator
that applies every map into its fractal perturbation:
, considering the partition, functions
operators
, and mapping
It is an easy exercise to check that
whenever
If, additionally,
f and
g are related by a linear and bounded operator
that is to say,
then
is linear and bounded and
This operator was defined by the author and studied for single-variable real maps and several functional spaces in reference [
26].
In the case where
and
we obtain an
fractal surface [
24].
Modulating the distance between a mapping
and its fractal associated
, one can obtain fractal bases of several functional spaces (see, for instance, [
25]). Given that
is obtained by the action of two bivariate mappings
f and
g, it is possible to define a binary internal operation
in the space
as
This was called in the real case the fractal convolution of
f and
g. This operation is linear, that is to say,
for any
and
It is also idempotent, that is to say,
for any
Additionally, the map
defined as
is bounded. The details are similar to the real univariate case.
Let us denote by
the space of linear and bounded operators on
. Based on the fractal convolution of maps, it is possible to define an internal operation in the set of operators as
for any
and
. The linearity and boundedness of
, and
P imply that the operator is well defined.
In the following, we consider the case
Theorem 7. Let and let us assume that U is invertible such that for any Then, is invertible and Proof. The proof is similar to that given in Theorem 8 of reference [
25]. □
In the case where
and
is a Hilbert space,
is Hilbert as well, with respect to the inner product:
In the following, we consider
and we prove that given a frame
of bivariate functions
, we can construct Hilbert-valued fractal frames with two variables of type
Let us start by defining a frame in a Hilbert space.
Definition 8. A sequence where X is a Hilbert space is a frame if there exist real positive constants such thatfor any , where denotes the norm associated with the inner product in X. A and B are the bounds of the frame. Theorem 8. Let satisfy the hypotheses given in Theorem 7, and be a frame with bounds Then, is also a frame with bounds and , defined asand Proof. Let
be the adjoint operator of
and
. Applying the frame inequalities of
for
one obtains
Since
using (
35) and (
36) one has
and we have the right inequality for the sequence
. For Theorem 7 we know that
is an invertible operator. Then,
and
Since
, then, by (
37),
Hence, by (
32) and (
33),
is also a frame and its bounds are
and
, defined as
and
□
7. Conclusions
This article delves into the concept of ()-partial contractivity, defined by the author in previous references in the framework of b-metric and quasi-normed spaces. In particular, it provides sufficient conditions for the existence of fixed points for these maps. The convergence and stability of the Picard iterations for the approximation of the fixed points are proved, giving “a priori” error estimates as well.
Kirk’s algorithm for the same purpose is analyzed, giving conditions for its convergence and stability. In particular, it is proved that the method enjoys these properties if the underlying space is a normed space and the comparison function is linear, in the case of the existence of a fixed point. Some error estimates are also given.
The properties proved can be applied to other types of contractions, since the self-maps considered contain many others as particular cases. For instance, if the underlying set is a metric space, the contractions of type Kannan, Chatterjea, Zamfirescu, Ćirić, and Reich are included in the class of contractivities studied in this paper (see Corollary 2.2 of reference [
11]).
These facts are applied to the definition of new fractal surfaces, more general than those studied so far. The construction of fractal frames composed of bivariate mappings is performed, belonging to very general Hilbert functional spaces.