Contraction map theorem
The contraction map theorem applies to contracting endomorphisms of complete metric spaces in Category of topological spaces.
Let
be a non-empty Complete metric space and ( π , π ) be a Contraction map. Then π : π β π has a unique fixed point π , i.e. such that π₯ 0 β π . #m/thm/anal π ( π₯ 0 ) = π₯ 0
Proof (sketch)
The uniqueness part of the theorem is easy to prove, for if there exist
such that π₯ β π¦ and π ( π₯ ) = π₯ , then π ( π¦ ) = π¦ meaning the distance π ( π ( π₯ ) , π ( π¦ ) ) = π ( π₯ , π¦ ) was not contracted. π ( π₯ , π¦ ) The existence part is proven using a sequence of repeated applications of
, which must be a Cauchy sequence since distances contract upon each subsequent application. The limit of this sequence1 is π . π₯ 0
Footnotes
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Which exists by completeness. β©