Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2014 / ib / Paper 4 / 3F (Analysis II)

A contraction mapping $T$ on a metric space satisfies $d(Tx,Ty)\le qd(x,y)$ for all $x,y$, with one constant $0\le q<1$. The contraction mapping theorem says that on a nonempty complete metric space such a map has a unique fixed point; successive iterates from any starting point converge to it. More precisely, if $x_n=T^n{x}_0$, then $d(x_n,x_{\ast })\le q^{n}d(x_1,x_0)/(1-q)$.

The Volterra integration operator maps continuous functions to continuous functions. In the uniform norm,This constant cannot be decreased: for $f=1$ and $g=0$, $Af(x)=x$, and both uniform norms are one. Hence $A$ is not a contraction.

Changing the order of integration over the triangular region givesThus$A^2$ is a contraction, with sharp constant $1/2$. This is an example of an iterated contraction.