Topics In Functional Equations

Introduction to Functional Equations

Functions and their properties have been part of the rigorous precollege curriculum for decades. And functional equations have been a favorite topic of the leading national and international mathematical competitions. Yet the subject has not received equal attention by authors at an introductory level. The majority of the books on the topic remain unreachable to the curious and intelligent precollege student. The present book is an attempt to eliminate this disparity. The book opens with a review chapter on functions, which collects the relevant foundational information on functions, plus some material potentially new to the reader. The next chapter presents a working definition of functional equations and explains the difficulties in trying to systematize the theory. With each new chapter, the author presents methods for the solution of a particular group of equations. Each chapter is complemented with many solved examples, the majority of which are taken from mathematical competitions and professional journals. The book ends with a chapter of unsolved problems and some other auxiliary material. The book is an invaluable resource for precollege and college students who want to deepen their knowledge of functions and their properties, for teachers and instructors who wish to enrich their curricula, and for any lover of mathematical problem-solving techniques. In the interest of fostering a greater awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and everyday life, MSRI and the AMS are publishing books in the Mathematical Circles Library series as a service to young people, their parents and teachers, and the mathematics profession.

Developments in Functional Equations and Related Topics

This book presents current research on Ulam stability for functional equations and inequalities. Contributions from renowned scientists emphasize fundamental and new results, methods and techniques. Detailed examples are given to theories to further understanding at the graduate level for students in mathematics, physics, and engineering. Key topics covered in this book include: Quasi means Approximate isometries Functional equations in hypergroups Stability of functional equations Fischer-Muszély equation Haar meager sets and Haar null sets Dynamical systems Functional equations in probability theory Stochastic convex ordering Dhombres functional equation Nonstandard analysis and Ulam stability This book is dedicated in memory of Staniłsaw Marcin Ulam, who posed the fundamental problem concerning approximate homomorphisms of groups in 1940; which has provided the stimulus for studies in the stability of functional equations and inequalities.

Topics in Functional Equations