1st Edition

On Functions and Functional Equations

By Smital Copyright 1988

    On Functions and Functional Equations introduces the main topics in iteration theory and the theory of functional equations with emphasis on applications in the fields of mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, and electronics and mechanical engineering. The book contains many classical results as well as important, more recent results. It also includes numerous exercise and some problems that have yet to be resolved. The book is accessible to readers having a secondary level mathematical education.

    FUNCTIONS
    Elementary properties of functions
    Continuous functions
    Derivatives of a function

    FUNCTIONAL EQUATIONS IN SEVERAL VARIABLES
    Introduction
    The Cauchy functional equation and related equations
    Other important types of equations
    Applications of functional equations in several variables
    Discontinuous solution of the Cauchy functional equation
    Concluding remarks

    ITERATIONS
    Introduction
    Fixed points
    Cycles
    Chaos
    Stability
    Concluding remarks

    APPLICATIONS OF ITERATIONS
    Introduction
    A discrete model of population growth for a single biological species
    A discrete model of epidemics
    A discrete population growth model for two species

    FUNCTIONAL EQUATIONS IN ONE VARIABLE
    Introduction
    Characteristic mappings and invariants
    Linear functional equations
    The Abel and Schröder equations
    Concluding remarks

    REFERENCES
    INDEX

    Biography

    J. Smital

    "… takes the reader from the familiar ideas of undergraduate mathematics to the newest ideas in its subject without losing either the integrity of the subject or the reader's comprehension … I heartily recommend this book."
    -Australian Physicist