Fixed point property
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In mathematics, a topological space X has the fixed point property if all continuous mappings from X to X have a fixed point.
[edit] Examples
[edit] The closed interval
The closed interval [0,1] has the fixed point property: Let f:[0,1] → [0,1] be a mapping. If f(0) = 0 or f(1) = 1, then our mapping has a fixed point at 0 or 1. If not, then f(0) > 0 and f(1) - 1 < 0. Thus the function g(x) = f(x) - x is a continuous real valued function which is positive at x=0 and negative at x=1. By the intermediate value theorem, there is some point x0 with g(x0) = 0, which is to say that f(x0) - x0 = 0, and so x0 is a fixed point.
The open interval does not have the fixed point property. The mapping f(x) = x2 has no fixed point on the interval (0,1).
[edit] The closed disc
The closed interval is a special case of the closed disc, which in any dimension has the fixed point property by the Brouwer fixed point theorem.
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