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Sorry for the bad title... Here is what I'm talking about:

Two functions $f$ and $g$ are called ____ (the word I'm asking for) if there exists a function $h$ such that $f \circ h = h \circ g$.

The example I have in mind is the functions $f(x) = 2x^2-1$, $g(x) = 2x$ and $h(x) = \cos(x)$.

Another example is $f(x) = x^2$, $g(x) = 2x$ and $h(x) = e^x$.

I thought they were called "adjoint functions", but googling doesn't give enough information on that.

Does anyone know what the exact name is? Any reference on this topic will be equally welcome.

J. W. Tanner
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WhatsUp
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2 Answers2

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in KCG Chapter 8 is called On Conjugacy, that being your relation. It is usually too much to expect anything global; in section 8.5 he begins to consider this relation in formal power series in $\mathbb C.$ More important than you would think. If the three series involved all have positive radius of convergence, he emphasizes this by saying analytically conjugate.

I do not yet see that the same phrase is used, but I can recommend A History of Complex Dynamics by Daniel S. Alexander. Maybe he has a different name.

An example, from Milnor, Dynamics in One Complex Variable: Let $0$ be a fixpoint of $f,$ holomorphic in a neighborhood. Take $$ f(z) = \lambda z + a_2 z^2 + a_3 z^3 + \cdots $$ Koenigs Linearization: if $|\lambda| \neq 0,1$ there is a local holomorphic change of coordinate $\phi$ with $\phi(0)=0,$ such that $$ \phi f \phi^{-1}(w) = \lambda w $$

Will Jagy
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If $h$ is invertible, then $f$ and $g$ lie in the same orbit under the action of 'conjugation by $h$'. This is often shorted to $f$ is conjugate to $g$. There may be a notion of or orbit or conjugate that generalizes well when you're not in a full group, but I'm no algebraist.

Zach Stone
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