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Iterated function
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==Definition== The formal definition of an iterated function on a [[set (mathematics)|set]] ''X'' follows. Let {{mvar|''X''}} be a set and {{math|''f'': ''X'' → ''X''}} be a [[function (mathematics)|function]]. Defining {{math| ''f'' <sup>''n''</sup>}} as the ''n''-th iterate of {{mvar|''f''}}, where ''n'' is a non-negative integer, by: <math display="block">f^0 ~ \stackrel{\mathrm{def}}{=} ~ \operatorname{id}_X</math> and <math display="block">f^{n+1} ~ \stackrel{\mathrm{def}}{=} ~ f \circ f^{n},</math> where {{math|id<sub>''X''</sub>}} is the [[identity function]] on {{mvar|''X''}} and {{math|(''f'' {{text| {{math| <math>\circ</math> }} }} ''g'')(''x'') {{=}} ''f'' (''g''(''x''))}} denotes [[function composition]]. This notation has been traced to and [[John Frederick William Herschel]] in 1813.<ref name="Herschel_1813"/><ref name="Herschel_1820"/><ref name="Peano_1903"/><ref name="Cajori_1929"/> Herschel credited [[Hans Heinrich Bürmann]] for it, but without giving a specific reference to the work of Bürmann, which remains undiscovered.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encounters with Chaos and Fractals|first1=Denny|last1=Gulick|first2=Jeff|last2=Ford|edition=3rd|publisher=CRC Press|year=2024|isbn=9781003835776|page=2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aVQIEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA2}}</ref> Because the notation {{math|''f'' <sup>''n''</sup>}} may refer to both iteration (composition) of the function {{mvar|''f''}} or [[Exponentiation#Iterated functions|exponentiation of the function]] {{mvar|''f''}} (the latter is commonly used in [[trigonometric functions|trigonometry]]), some mathematicians{{citation needed|date=August 2020|reason=Origin? Example authors?}} choose to use {{math|∘}} to denote the compositional meaning, writing {{math|''f''{{i sup|∘''n''}}(''x'')}} for the {{mvar|n}}-th iterate of the function {{math|''f''(''x'')}}, as in, for example, {{math|''f''{{i sup|∘3}}(''x'')}} meaning {{math|''f''(''f''(''f''(''x'')))}}. For the same purpose, {{math|''f'' <sup>[''n'']</sup>(''x'')}} was used by [[Benjamin Peirce]]<ref name="Peirce_1852"/><ref name="Cajori_1929"/><ref group="nb">while {{math|''f'' <sup>(''n'')</sup>}} is taken for the [[Derivative#Lagrange's notation|{{math|''n''}}th derivative]]</ref> whereas [[Alfred Pringsheim]] and [[Jules Molk]] suggested {{math|{{i sup|''n''}}''f''(''x'')}} instead.<ref name="Pringsheim-Molk_1907"/><ref name="Cajori_1929"/><ref group="nb" name="NB_Rucker"/>
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