Let be a continuous, decreasing function, such that . Prove that there are no continuous functions such that the equality is true for some integer .
Solution
Suppose that such a function exists. Injectivity of implies the injectivity of the continuous function , which in turn is strictly monotone. As is increasing we conclude that is increasing and is an odd number. Moreover, is not surjective.
Denote by ( times ). Because is an interval with , we deduce is bounded from above.
Let be such that . Then , for all , so , for all , in contradiction with .
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