Around Browder’s fixed point theorem for contractions

Abstract.

We revisit a fixed point theorem for contractions established by Felix Browder in 1968. We show that many definitions of contractive mappings which appeared in the literature after 1968 turn out to be equivalent formulations or even particular cases of Browder’s definition. We also discuss the problem of the existence of approximate fixed points of continuous mappings; in particular, we settle it in the affirmative for Browder contractions. Finally, we recall three problems concerning Browder contractions which remain unsolved.