Half-Iterates and Delta Conjectures

The vivid contrast between two competing algorithms for solving Abel’s equation $g(\theta (x))=g(x)+1$, given $\theta (x)$, is easily sketched. EJ is faster and more efficient, but ML evaluates a limit characterizing the principal solution $g(x)$ directly. EJ finds $g(x)+\delta$, where $\delta$ is possibly nonzero but independent of $x$. If we were to know an exact expression for $\delta$, then the “intrinsicality” of ML would be subsumed by EJ. Filling this gap in our knowledge is the aim of this paper.