A cardinal number connected to the solvability of systems of difference equations in a given function class

TL;DR

This paper introduces the concept of solvability cardinal for function classes, analyzing when systems of difference equations solvable in finite subsystems extend to the entire system, revealing complex behaviors across various function classes.

Contribution

It defines the solvability cardinal for function classes and determines it for many classes in analysis, highlighting the irregularities in their solvability properties.

Findings

The solvability cardinal for polynomials is 3.

The solvability cardinal for trigonometric polynomials is ω₁.

The solvability cardinal for continuous functions is ω₁.

Abstract

Let $\R^\R$ denote the set of real valued functions defined on the real line. A map $D: \R^\R \to \R^\R$ is a {\it difference operator}, if there are real numbers $a_i, b_i \ (i=1,..., n)$ such that $(Df)(x)=\sum_{i=1}^n a_i f(x+b_i)$ for every $f\in \R^\R $ and $x\in \R$. A {\it system of difference equations} is a set of equations $S={D_i f=g_i : i\in I}$, where $I$ is an arbitrary set of indices, $D_i$ is a difference operator and $g_i$ is a given function for every $i\in I$, and $f$ is the unknown function. One can prove that a system $S$ is solvable if and only if every finite subsystem of $S$ is solvable. However, if we look for solutions belonging to a given class of functions, then the analogous statement fails. For example, there exists a system $S$ such that every finite subsystem of $S$ has a solution which is a trigonometric polynomial, but $S$ has no such solution. This phenomenon motivates the following definition. Let ${\cal F}$ be a class of functions. The {\it solvability cardinal} $\solc (\iF)$ of ${\cal F}$ is the smallest cardinal $\kappa$ such that whenever $S$ is a system of difference equations and each subsystem of $S$ of cardinality less than $\kappa$ has a solution in ${\cal F}$, then $S$ itselfhas a solution in ${\cal F}$. In this paper we determine the solvability cardinals of most function classes that occur in analysis. As it turns out, the behaviour of $\solc ({\cal F})$ is rather erratic. For example, $\solc (\text{polynomials})=3$ but $\solc (\text{trigonometric polynomials})=\omega_1$, $\solc ({f: f\ \text{is continuous}}) = \omega_1$ but $\solc ({f: f\ \text{is Darboux}}) =(2^\omega)^+$, and $\solc (\R^\R)=\omega$. We consistently determine the solvability cardinals of the classes of Borel, Lebesgue and Baire measurable functions, and give some partial answers for the Baire class 1 and Baire class $\alpha$ functions.