Fixed points

In mathematics, a fixed point (sometimes shortened to fixpoint, also known as an invariant point) of a function is an element of the function's domain that is mapped to itself by the function. That is to say, c is a fixed point of the function f if f(c) = c. This means f(f(...f(c)...)) = f n(c) = c, an important terminating consideration when recursively computing f. A set of fixed points is sometimes called a fixed set.
For example, if f is defined on the real numbers by




f
(
x
)
=

x

2


−
3
x
+
4
,


{\displaystyle f(x)=x^{2}-3x+4,}
then 2 is a fixed point of f, because f(2) = 2.
Not all functions have fixed points: for example, f(x) = x + 1, has no fixed points, since x is never equal to x + 1 for any real number. In graphical terms, a fixed point x means the point (x, f(x)) is on the line y = x, or in other words the graph of f has a point in common with that line.
Points that come back to the same value after a finite number of iterations of the function are called periodic points. A fixed point is a periodic point with period equal to one. In projective geometry, a fixed point of a projectivity has been called a double point.In Galois theory, the set of the fixed points of a set of field automorphisms is a field called the fixed field of the set of automorphisms.

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