Function composition

g ∘ f, the **composition** of f and g. For example, (g ∘ f)(c) = #.

In mathematics, function composition is the application of one function to the results of another. For instance, the functions f: X → Y and g: Y → Z can be composed by computing the output of f when it has an argument of g(x) instead of x.

Thus one obtains a function g ∘ f: X → Z defined by (g ∘ f)(x) = g(f(x)) for all x in X. The notation g ∘ f is read as "g circle f", or "g composed with f", "g after f", "g following f", or just "g of f".

The composition of functions is always associative. That is, if f, g, and h are three functions with suitably chosen domains and codomains, then f ∘ (g ∘ h) = (f ∘ g) ∘ h. Since there is no distinction between the choices of placement of parentheses, they may be safely left off.

The functions g and f are said to commute with each other if g ∘ f = f ∘ g. In general, composition of functions will not be commutative. Commutativity is a special property, attained only by particular functions, and often in special circumstances. For example, $\left|x\right|+3=\left|x+3\right|\,$ only when $x\geq 0$ . But a function always commutes with its inverse to produce the identity mapping.

Considering functions as special cases of relations (namely functional relations), one can analogously define composition of relations, which gives the formula for $g\circ f\subset X\times Z$ in terms of $f\subset X\times Y$ and $g\subset Y\times Z$ .

Derivatives of compositions involving differentiable functions can be found using the chain rule. Higher derivatives of such functions are given by Faà di Bruno's formula.

Example

As an example, suppose that an airplane's elevation at time t is given by the function h(t) and that the oxygen concentration at elevation x is given by the function c(x). Then (c ∘ h)(t) describes the oxygen concentration around the plane at time t.

Functional powers

If $Y\subseteq X$ then $f:X\rightarrow Y$ may compose with itself; this is sometimes denoted $f^{2}\,$ . Thus:

(f\circ f)(x)=f(f(x))=f^{2}(x)

(f\circ f\circ f)(x)=f(f(f(x)))=f^{3}(x)

Repeated composition of a function with itself is called function iteration.

The functional powers $f\circ f^{n}=f^{n}\circ f=f^{n+1}$ for natural $n\,$ follow immediately.

By convention, $f^{0}=id_{D(f)}\,$ ${\big (}$ the identity map on the domain of $f{\big )}$ .
If $f:X\rightarrow X$ admits an inverse function, negative functional powers $f^{-k}\,$ $(k>0\,)$ are defined as the opposite power of the inverse function, $(f^{-1})^{k}\,$ .

Note: If f takes its values in a ring (in particular for real or complex-valued f ), there is a risk of confusion, as f ⁿ could also stand for the n-fold product of f, e.g. f ²(x) = f(x) · f(x).

(For trigonometric functions, usually the latter is meant, at least for positive exponents. For example, in trigonometry, this superscript notation represents standard exponentiation when used with trigonometric functions: sin²(x) = sin(x) · sin(x). However, for negative exponents (especially −1), it nevertheless usually refers to the inverse function, e.g., tan⁻¹ = arctan (≠ 1/tan).

In some cases, an expression for f in g(x) = f ^r(x) can be derived from the rule for g given non-integer values of r. This is called fractional iteration. A simple example would be that where f is the successor function, f ^r(x) = x + r.

Iterated functions occur naturally in the study of fractals and dynamical systems.

Composition monoids

Suppose one has two (or more) functions f: X → X, g: X → X having the same domain and codomain. Then one can form long, potentially complicated chains of these functions composed together, such as f ∘ f ∘ g ∘ f. Such long chains have the algebraic structure of a monoid, sometimes called the composition monoid. In general, composition monoids can have remarkably complicated structure. One particular notable example is the de Rham curve. The set of all functions f: X → X is called the full transformation semigroup on X.

If the functions are bijective, then the set of all possible combinations of these functions form a group; and one says that the group is generated by these functions.

The set of all bijective functions f: X → X form a group with respect to the composition operator. This is the symmetric group, also sometimes called the composition group.

Alternative notation

In the mid-20th century, some mathematicians decided that writing "g ∘ f" to mean "first apply f, then apply g" was too confusing and decided to change notations. They wrote "xf" for "f(x)" and "(xf)g" for "g(f(x))". This can be more natural and seem simpler than writing functions on the left in some areas – in linear algebra, for instance, where x is a row vector and f and g denote matrices and the composition is by matrix multiplication. This alternate notation is called called postfix notation. The order is important because this multiplication is non-commutative. Successive transformations applying and composing to the right agrees with the left-to-right reading sequence.

Category Theory uses f;g interchangeably with g ∘ f. To distinguish the left composition operator from a text semicolon, in the Z notation a fat semicolon ⨟ is used for left relation composition. Since all functions are binary relations, it is correct to use the fat semicolon for function composition as well.

Composition operator

Given a function g, the composition operator $C_{g}$ is defined as that operator which maps functions to functions as

C_{g}f=f\circ g.

Composition operators are studied in the field of operator theory.

External links

"Composition of Functions" by Bruce Atwood, the Wolfram Demonstrations Project, 2007.