Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2002/ib/paper-2/10e/b/solution

The strict distance inequality implies for all points, so is Lipschitz continuous. Hence
is a continuous function, since . On the nonempty compact metric space, attains its minimum at some .
If , the strict distance inequality applied to gives
a contradiction. Thus . If were different fixed points, then , again impossible. There is exactly one fixed point. This proves strict distance decrease on a compact metric space without assuming a uniform contraction constant.

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