1 Introduction and preliminaries

In 1996, Kada et al. [1] introduced the concept of w-distance and got some fixed point theorems for single-valued mappings under w-distance. In 2006, Feng and Liu [[2], Theorem 3.1] proved the following fixed point theorem for a multi-valued contractive mapping, which generalizes the nice fixed point theorem due to Nadler [[3], Theorem 5].

Theorem 1.1 ([2])

Let (X,d) be a complete metric space and T be a multi-valued mapping from X into CL(X), where CL(X) is the family of all nonempty closed subsets of X. Assume that

(c1) the mapping f:X R + , defined by f(x)=d(x,T(x)), xX, is lower semi-continuous;

(c2) there exist constants b,c(0,1) with c<b such that for any xX, there is yT(x) satisfying

bd(x,y)f(x)andf(y)cd(x,y).

Then T has a fixed point in X.

In 2007, Klim and Wardowski [[4], Theorem 2.1] extended Theorem 1.1 and proved the following result.

Theorem 1.2 ([4])

Let (X,d) be a complete metric space and T be a multi-valued mapping from X into CL(X) satisfying (c1). Assume that

(c3) there exist b(0,1) and φ: R + [0,b) satisfying

lim sup r t + φ(r)<b,t R + ,

and for any xX, there is yT(x) satisfying

bd(x,y)d ( x , T ( x ) ) andf(y)φ ( d ( x , y ) ) d(x,y).

Then T has a fixed point in X.

In 2009 and 2010, Ćirić [[5], Theorem 2.1] and Liu et al. [[6], Theorems 2.1 and 2.3] established a few fixed point theorems for some multi-valued nonlinear contractions, which include the multi-valued contraction in Theorem 1.1 as a special case.

Theorem 1.3 ([5])

Let (X,d) be a complete metric space and T be a multi-valued mapping from X into CL(X) satisfying (c1). Assume that

(c4) there exists a function φ: R + [a,1), 0<a<1, satisfying

lim sup r t + φ(r)<1,t R + ,

and for any xX, there is yT(x) satisfying

φ ( f ( x ) ) d(x,y)f(x)andf(y)φ ( f ( x ) ) d(x,y).

Then T has a fixed point in X.

Theorem 1.4 ([6])

Let T be a multi-valued mapping from a complete metric space (X,d) into CL(X) such that

for each  x X , there exists  y T ( x )  satisfying α ( f ( x ) ) d ( x , y ) f ( x ) and f ( y ) β ( f ( x ) ) d ( x , y ) ,

where

B={ [ 0 , sup f ( X ) ] if  sup f ( X ) < , [ 0 , ) if  sup f ( X ) = ,

α:B(0,1] and β:B[0,1) satisfy that

lim inf r 0 + α(r)>0and lim sup r t + β ( r ) α ( r ) <1,t[0,supf(X)).

Then

(a1) for each x 0 X, there exist an orbit { x n } n N 0 of T and zX such that lim n x n =z;

(a2) z is a fixed point of T in X if and only if the function f(x)=d(x,T(x)), xX, is T-orbitally lower semi-continuous at z.

Theorem 1.5 ([6])

Let T be a multi-valued mapping from a complete metric space (X,d) into CL(X) such that

for each  x X , there exists  y T ( x )  satisfying α ( d ( x , y ) ) d ( x , y ) f ( x ) and f ( y ) β ( d ( x , y ) ) d ( x , y ) ,

where

A={ [ 0 , diam ( X ) ] if  diam ( X ) < , [ 0 , ) if  diam ( X ) = ,

α:A(0,1] and β:A[0,1) satisfy that

lim inf r t + α(r)>0and lim sup r t + β ( r ) α ( r ) <1,t[0,diam(X)),

and one of α and β is nondecreasing. Then

(a1) for each x 0 X, there exist an orbit { x n } n N 0 of T and zX such that lim n x n =z;

(a2) z is a fixed point of T in X if and only if the function f(x)=d(x,T(x)), xX, is T-orbitally lower semi-continuous at z.

In 2011, Latif and Abdou [[7], Theorem 2.1] generalized Theorem 1.3 and proved the following fixed point theorem for some multi-valued contractive mapping with w-distance.

Theorem 1.6 ([7])

Let (X,d) be a complete metric space with a w-distance w, and let T be a multi-valued mapping from X into CL(X). Assume that

(c5) the mapping f:X R + , defined by f w (x)=w(x,T(x)), xX, is lower semi-continuous;

(c6) there exists a function φ: R + [b,1), 0<b<1, satisfying

lim sup r t + φ(r)<1,t R +

and for any xX, there is yT(x) satisfying

φ ( f w ( x ) ) w(x,y) f w (x)and f w (y)φ ( f w ( x ) ) w(x,y).

Then there exists v 0 X such that f w ( v 0 )=0. Further, if w( v 0 , v 0 )=0, then v 0 T( v 0 ).

The purpose of this paper is to prove the existence of fixed points and iterative approximations for some multi-valued contractive mappings with w-distance. Two examples with uncountably many points are included. The results presented in this paper extend, improve and unify Theorem 3.1 in [2], Theorem 2.1 in [4], Theorems 2.1 and 2.2 in [5], Theorems 2.1 and 2.3 in [6], Theorems 2.1-2.3 and 2.5 in [7], Theorem 6 in [8], Theorems 2.2 and 2.4 in [9] and Theorems 3.1-3.4 in [10].

Throughout this paper, we assume that R + =[0,), N 0 =N{0}, where ℕ denotes the set of all positive integers.

Definition 1.7 ([1])

A function w:X×X R + is called a w-distance in X if it satisfies the following:

(w1) w(x,z)w(x,y)+w(y,z), x,y,zX;

(w2) for each xX, a mapping w(x,):X R + is lower semi-continuous, that is, if { y n } n N is a sequence in X with lim n y n =yX, then w(x,y) lim inf n w(x, y n );

(w3) for any ε>0, there exists δ>0 such that w(z,x)δ and w(z,y)δ imply d(x,y)ε.

For any uX, DX, w-distance w and T:XCL(X), put

d ( u , D ) = inf y D d ( u , y ) , w ( u , D ) = inf y D w ( u , y ) , f ( u ) = d ( u , T ( u ) ) , f w ( u ) = w ( u , T ( u ) ) , diam ( X ) = sup { d ( x , y ) : x , y X } , diam ( X w ) = sup { w ( x , y ) : x , y X } , A w = { [ 0 , diam ( X w ) ] if  diam ( X w ) < , [ 0 , ) if  diam ( X w ) =

and

B w ={ [ 0 , sup f w ( X ) ] if  sup f w ( X ) < , [ 0 , ) if  sup f w ( X ) = .

A sequence { x n } n N 0 in X is called an orbit of T at x 0 X if x n T( x n 1 ) for all nN. A function g:X R + is said to be T-orbitally lower semi-continuous at zX if g(z) lim inf n g( x n ) for each orbit { x n } n N 0 X of T with lim n x n =z. A function φ: A w R + is called subadditive in A w if φ(s+t)φ(s)+φ(t) for all s,t A w . A function φ: A w R + is called strictly inverse in A w if φ(t)<φ(s) implies that t<s.

Lemma 1.8 ([11])

Let (X,d) be a metric space with a w-distance w and DCL(X). Suppose that there exists uX such that w(u,u)=0. Then w(u,D)=0 if and only if uD.

2 Fixed point theorems

In this section we prove the existence of fixed points and iterative approximations for some nonlinear multi-valued contraction mappings in complete metric spaces with w-distance.

Theorem 2.1 Let (X,d) be a complete metric space, w be a w-distance in X and T be a multi-valued mapping from X into CL(X) such that

for each  x X , there exists  y T ( x )  satisfying α ( f w ( x ) ) φ ( w ( x , y ) ) f w ( x ) and f w ( y ) β ( f w ( x ) ) ψ ( w ( x , y ) ) ,
(2.1)

where

α  and  β  are functions from  B w  into  ( 0 , 1 ]  and  [ 0 , 1 ) , respectively, with  β ( 0 ) < α ( 0 ) , lim inf r 0 + α ( r ) > 0 and lim sup r t + β ( r ) α ( r ) < 1 , t B w ,
(2.2)
φ  and  ψ  are functions from  A w  into  R +  with  ψ ( t ) φ ( t ) , t A w and φ  is subadditive in  A w  and satisfies that either 
(2.3)
φ is strictly inverse in  A w ,φ(0)=0,φ(t)>0,t A w {0}
(2.4)

or

φ  is strictly increasing in  A w  and  lim t 0 + φ 1 ( t ) = 0 , where  φ 1 stands for the inverse function of  φ .
(2.5)

Then

(a1) for each x 0 X, there exists an orbit { x n } n N 0 of T such that lim n x n = u 0 for some u 0 X;

(a2) f w ( u 0 )=0 if and only if the function f w is T-orbitally lower semi-continuous at u 0 ;

(a3) u 0 T( u 0 ) provided that w( u 0 , u 0 )=0= f w ( u 0 );

(a4) T has a fixed point in X if for each orbit { z n } n N 0 of T in X and vX with vT(v), one of the following conditions is satisfied:

inf { w ( z n , v ) + φ ( w ( z n , z n + 1 ) ) : n N 0 } >0;
(2.6)
inf { w ( z n , v ) + w ( z n , T ( z n ) ) : n N 0 } >0.
(2.7)

Proof Firstly, we prove (a1). Let

γ(t)= β ( t ) α ( t ) ,t B w .
(2.8)

It follows from (2.1) that for each x 0 X, there exists x 1 T( x 0 ) satisfying

α ( f w ( x 0 ) ) φ ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) f w ( x 0 )and f w ( x 1 )β ( f w ( x 0 ) ) ψ ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) ,

which together with (2.3) and (2.8) yields that

f w ( x 1 ) β ( f w ( x 0 ) ) ψ ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) β ( f w ( x 0 ) ) φ ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) β ( f w ( x 0 ) ) f w ( x 0 ) α ( f w ( x 0 ) ) = γ ( f w ( x 0 ) ) f w ( x 0 ) .

Continuing this process, we choose easily an orbit { x n } n N 0 of T satisfying

x n + 1 T ( x n ) , α ( f w ( x n ) ) φ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) f w ( x n ) and f w ( x n + 1 ) β ( f w ( x n ) ) ψ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) , n N 0 .
(2.9)

It follows from (2.3), (2.8) and (2.9) that

f w ( x n + 1 ) β ( f w ( x n ) ) ψ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) β ( f w ( x n ) ) φ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) β ( f w ( x n ) ) f w ( x n ) α ( f w ( x n ) ) = γ ( f w ( x n ) ) f w ( x n ) , n N 0 .
(2.10)

Now we claim that

lim n f w ( x n )=0.
(2.11)

Notice that the ranges of α and β, (2.2) and (2.8) ensure that

0γ(t)<1,t B w .
(2.12)

Using (2.10) and (2.12), we conclude that { f w ( x n ) } n N 0 is a nonnegative and nonincreasing sequence, which means that there is a constant a0 satisfying

lim n f w ( x n )=a.
(2.13)

Suppose that a>0. Using (2.2), (2.8), (2.10), (2.12) and (2.13), we obtain that

a = lim sup n f w ( x n + 1 ) lim sup n [ γ ( f w ( x n ) ) f w ( x n ) ] lim sup n γ ( f w ( x n ) ) lim sup n f w ( x n ) a lim sup r a + γ ( r ) < a ,

which is a contradiction. Thus a=0, that is, (2.11) holds.

Next we claim that { x n } n N 0 is a Cauchy sequence. Put

b= lim sup n γ ( f w ( x n ) ) andc= lim inf n α ( f w ( x n ) ) .
(2.14)

It follows from (2.2), (2.8), (2.12) and (2.14) that

0b<1andc>0.
(2.15)

Let p(0,c) and q(b,1). Because of (2.14) and (2.15), we deduce that there exists some n 0 N such that

γ ( f w ( x n ) ) <qandα ( f w ( x n ) ) >p,n n 0 ,

which together with (2.9) and (2.10) yields that

f w ( x n + 1 )q f w ( x n )andφ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) f w ( x n ) p ,n n 0 ,

which implies that

f w ( x n + 1 ) q n + 1 n 0 f w ( x n 0 )andφ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) f w ( x n 0 ) p q n n 0 ,n n 0 .
(2.16)

By means of (w1), (2.3) and (2.16), we deduce that

φ ( w ( x n , x m ) ) k = n m 1 φ ( w ( x k , x k + 1 ) ) k = n m 1 f w ( x n 0 ) p q k n 0 f w ( x n 0 ) p ( 1 q ) q n n 0 , m > n n 0 .
(2.17)

Given ε>0, denote by δ the constant in (w3) corresponding to ε. Assume that (2.4) holds. It follows from φ(δ)>0 and q(b,1) that there exists a positive integer N n 0 satisfying

f w ( x n 0 ) p ( 1 q ) q n n 0 <φ(δ),nN.
(2.18)

Combining (2.17) and (2.18), we infer that

max { φ ( w ( x N , x m ) ) , φ ( w ( x N , x n ) ) } f w ( x n 0 ) p ( 1 q ) q n n 0 <φ(δ),m>nN,

which together with (2.4) guarantees that

max { w ( x N , x m ) , w ( x N , x n ) } <δ,m>n>N.
(2.19)

It follows from (w3) and (2.19) that

d( x m , x n )ε,m>n>N.
(2.20)

It is clear that (2.20) yields that { x n } n N 0 is a Cauchy sequence.

Assume that (2.5) holds. Since φ is strictly increasing, so does φ 1 . It follows from (2.5) and q(b,1) that there exists a positive integer N n 0 satisfying

φ 1 ( f w ( x n 0 ) p ( 1 q ) q n n 0 ) <δ,nN,

which together with (2.5) and (2.17) means that

w( x n , x m )= φ 1 ( φ ( w ( x n , x m ) ) ) φ 1 ( f w ( x n 0 ) p ( 1 q ) q n n 0 ) <δ,m>nN,

which ensures that (2.19) and (2.20) hold. Consequently, { x n } n N 0 is a Cauchy sequence.

It follows from completeness of (X,d) that there is some u 0 X such that lim n x n = u 0 .

Secondly, we prove (a2). Suppose that f w is T-orbitally lower semi-continuous at u 0 . Let { x n } n N 0 be the orbit of T defined by (2.9) and satisfy (2.11). It follows from (2.11) that

0w ( u 0 , T ( u 0 ) ) = f w ( u 0 ) lim inf n f w ( x n )=0,

which means that f w ( u 0 )=0. Conversely, suppose that f w ( u 0 )=0 for some u 0 X. Let { y n } n N 0 be an arbitrary orbit of T in X with lim n y n = u 0 . It follows that

f w ( u 0 )=0 lim inf n f w ( y n ),

that is, f w is T-orbitally lower semi-continuous at u 0 .

Thirdly, we prove (a3). Note that T( u 0 ) is closed and

w( u 0 , u 0 )=0= f w ( u 0 )=w ( u 0 , T ( u 0 ) ) .

It follows from Lemma 1.8 that u 0 T( u 0 ).

Finally, we prove (a4). Assume that { x n } n N 0 is the orbit of T defined by (2.9) and that it satisfies (2.11), (2.16), (2.17) and lim n x n = u 0 X. Clearly, (2.16) and q(b,1) mean that

lim n φ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) =0.
(2.21)

Now we claim that

lim n w( x n , u 0 )=0.
(2.22)

In order to prove (2.22), we consider two possible cases as follows.

Case 1. Assume that (2.4) holds. Let ε>0 be given. Notice that φ(ε)>0 and q(b,1). It follows that there exists a positive integer N> n 0 satisfying

f w ( x n 0 ) p ( 1 q ) q n n 0 <φ(ε),nN,

which together with (2.17) yields that

φ ( w ( x n , x m ) ) f w ( x n 0 ) p ( 1 q ) q n n 0 <φ(ε),m>nN.

Since φ is strictly inverse, it follows that

w( x n , x m )<ε,m>nN.

Letting m in the above inequality and using (w2), we get that

w( x n , u 0 ) lim inf m w( x n , x m )ε,nN,

that is, (2.22) holds.

Case 2. Assume that (2.5) holds. It follows from (2.5) and (2.17) that

w( x n , x m )= φ 1 ( φ ( w ( x n , x m ) ) ) φ 1 ( f w ( x n 0 ) p ( 1 q ) q n n 0 ) ,m>n n 0 ,

which together with (w2) and (2.5) ensures that

w( x n , u 0 ) lim inf m w( x n , x m ) φ 1 ( f w ( x n 0 ) p ( 1 q ) q n n 0 ) 0as n,

that is, (2.22) holds.

Suppose that u 0 T( u 0 ). Let v= u 0 and z n = x n for each n N 0 . Assume that (2.6) holds. Making use of (2.6), (2.21) and (2.22), we conclude that

0<inf { w ( x n , u 0 ) + φ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) : n N 0 } =0,

which is a contradiction. Assume that (2.7) holds. By virtue of (2.7), (2.11) and (2.22), we infer that

0<inf { w ( x n , u 0 ) + w ( x n , x n + 1 ) : n N 0 } =0,

which is also a contradiction. Consequently, u 0 T( u 0 ). This completes the proof. □

Theorem 2.2 Let (X,d) be a complete metric space, w be a w-distance in X and T be a multi-valued mapping from X into CL(X) such that (2.3) and one of (2.4) and (2.5) hold and

for each  x X , there exists  y T ( x )  satisfying α ( w ( x , y ) ) φ ( w ( x , y ) ) f w ( x ) and f w ( y ) β ( w ( x , y ) ) ψ ( w ( x , y ) ) ,
(2.23)

where

α  and  β  are functions from  A w  into  ( 0 , 1 ]  and  [ 0 , 1 ) , respectively, with β ( 0 ) < α ( 0 ) , lim inf r 0 + α ( r ) > 0 and lim sup r t + β ( r ) α ( r ) < 1 , t A w
(2.24)

and

one of α and β is nondecreasing in  A w .
(2.25)

Then (a1)-(a4) hold.

Proof Firstly, we prove (a1). Let

γ(t)= β ( t ) α ( t ) ,t A w .
(2.26)

Notice that the ranges of α and β, (2.24) and (2.26) ensure that

0γ(t)<1,t A w .
(2.27)

It follows from (2.23) that for each x 0 X, there exists x 1 T( x 0 ) satisfying

α ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) φ ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) f w ( x 0 )and f w ( x 1 )β ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) ψ ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) ,

which together with (2.3) and (2.26) means that

f w ( x 1 ) β ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) ψ ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) β ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) φ ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) β ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) f w ( x 0 ) α ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) = γ ( w ( x 0 , x 1 ) ) f w ( x 0 ) .

Continuing this process, we choose easily an orbit { x n } n N 0 of T satisfying

x n + 1 T ( x n ) , α ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) φ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) f w ( x n ) and f w ( x n + 1 ) β ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) ψ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) , n N 0 ,
(2.28)

which together with (2.3) and (2.26) gives that

f w ( x n + 1 ) β ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) ψ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) β ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) φ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) β ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) f w ( x n ) α ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) = γ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) f w ( x n ) , n N 0
(2.29)

and

φ ( w ( x n + 1 , x n + 2 ) ) f w ( x n + 1 ) α ( w ( x n + 1 , x n + 2 ) ) β ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) α ( w ( x n + 1 , x n + 2 ) ) ψ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) , n N 0 .
(2.30)

Now we claim that

w( x n + 1 , x n + 2 )w( x n , x n + 1 ),n N 0 .
(2.31)

Suppose that there exists n 0 N 0 satisfying

w( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 )>w( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ).
(2.32)

Let (2.4) hold. It follows from (2.3), (2.25), (2.26), (2.30) and (2.32) that

φ ( w ( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 ) ) β ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) α ( w ( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 ) ) ψ ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) max { γ ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) , γ ( w ( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 ) ) } φ ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) .
(2.33)

If φ(w( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ))=0, it follows from (2.33) that φ(w( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 ))=0. Thus (2.4) and (2.32) guarantee that

0w( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 )<w( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 )=0,

which is a contradiction; if φ(w( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ))>0, (2.4), (2.26), (2.27) and (2.33) yield that

φ ( w ( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 ) ) max { γ ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) , γ ( w ( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 ) ) } φ ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) < φ ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) .
(2.34)

Since φ is strictly inverse, it follows from (2.32) and (2.34) that

w( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 )<w( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 )<w( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 ),

which is impossible.

Let (2.5) hold. Notice that φ is strictly increasing. It follows from (2.3), (2.26), (2.27), (2.30) and (2.32) that

φ ( w ( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 ) ) β ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) α ( w ( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 ) ) ψ ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) max { γ ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) , γ ( w ( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 ) ) } φ ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) φ ( w ( x n 0 , x n 0 + 1 ) ) < φ ( w ( x n 0 + 1 , x n 0 + 2 ) ) ,

which is absurd. Hence (2.31) holds. That is, { w ( x n , x n + 1 ) } n N 0 is a nonincreasing and nonnegative sequence. It follows that lim n w( x n , x n + 1 )=d for some d0.

Now we claim that (2.11) holds. Using (2.27) and (2.29), we conclude that { f w ( x n ) } n N 0 is a nonnegative and nonincreasing sequence. Consequently, (2.13) is satisfied for some a0. Suppose that a>0. Using (2.13), (2.24), (2.27) and (2.29), we obtain that

a = lim sup n f w ( x n + 1 ) lim sup n [ γ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) f w ( x n ) ] lim sup n γ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) lim sup n f w ( x n ) a lim sup t d + γ ( t ) < a ,

which is a contradiction. Thus a=0, that is, (2.11) holds.

Next we claim that { x n } n N 0 is a Cauchy sequence. Put

b= lim sup n γ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) andc= lim inf n α ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) .
(2.35)

It follows from (2.24), (2.27), (2.29) and (2.35) that (2.15) holds. Let p(0,c) and q(b,1). Because of (2.15) and (2.35), we deduce that there exists some n 0 N such that

γ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) <qandα ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) >p,n n 0 ,

which together with (2.28) and (2.29) yields that

f w ( x n + 1 )q f w ( x n )andφ ( w ( x n , x n + 1 ) ) f w ( x n ) p ,n n 0 .

The rest of the proof is similar to that of Theorem 2.1 and is omitted. This completes the proof. □

3 Remarks and illustrative examples

In this section we construct two nontrivial examples to illustrate the results in Section 2.

Remark 3.1 Theorem 2.1 extends Theorem 3.1 in [2], Theorem 2.1 in [5], Theorem 2.1 in [6], Theorems 2.1 and 2.2 in [7], Theorems 2.2 and 2.4 in [9], and Theorems 3.1 and 3.2 in [10]. Example 3.2 below shows that Theorem 2.1 extends substantially Theorem 3.1 in [2] and Theorem 2.1 in [5] and differs from Theorems 5 and 6 in [8] and Theorem 2.1 in [4].

Example 3.2 Let X=[0,1]{ 6 5 } be endowed with the Euclidean metric d=|| and u 0 =0. Define w:X×X R + , T:XCL(X), α:[0, 1 4 ](0,1], β:[0, 1 4 ][0,1) and φ,ψ:[0, 6 5 ] R + by

w ( x , y ) = y , x , y X , T ( x ) = { { x 4 } , x [ 0 , 2 5 ) ( 2 5 , 1 ] , { 1 10 , 1 3 } , x { 2 5 , 6 5 } , α ( t ) = 8 + t 9 , β ( t ) = 2 + t 3 , t [ 0 , 1 4 ]

and

φ(t)=t,ψ(t)=min { t , | 1 t | } ,t [ 0 , 6 5 ] .

It is easy to see that A w =[0, 6 5 ], B w =[0, 1 4 ], (2.3), (2.4) and (2.5) hold and

f w (x)=w ( x , T ( x ) ) ={ x 4 , x [ 0 , 2 5 ) ( 2 5 , 1 ] , 1 10 , x { 2 5 , 6 5 } ,

is T-orbitally lower semi-continuous at u 0 ,

β ( 0 ) = 2 3 < 8 9 = α ( 0 ) , lim inf r 0 + α ( r ) = 8 9 > 0 , lim sup r t + β ( r ) α ( r ) = lim sup r t + ( 2 + r 3 9 8 + r ) = 6 + 3 t 8 + t < 1 , t [ 0 , 1 4 ] .

For x[0, 2 5 )( 2 5 ,1], there exists y= x 4 T(x)={ x 4 } satisfying

α ( f w ( x ) ) φ ( w ( x , y ) ) = 8 + x 4 9 x 4 x 4 = f w (x)

and

f w (y)= x 16 2 + x 4 3 min { x 4 , 1 x 4 } =β ( f w ( x ) ) ψ ( w ( x , y ) ) .

For x{ 2 5 , 6 5 }, there exists y= 1 10 T(x)={ 1 10 , 1 3 } satisfying

α ( f w ( x ) ) φ ( w ( x , y ) ) = 8 + 1 10 9 1 10 1 10 = f w (x)

and

f w (y)= 1 40 2 + 1 10 3 min { 1 10 , 1 1 10 } =β ( f w ( x ) ) ψ ( w ( x , y ) ) .

Put vX{0} and { z n } n N 0 is an orbit of T in X. It is easy to verify that lim n z n = u 0 =0 and

inf { w ( z n , v ) + φ ( w ( z n , z n + 1 ) ) : n N 0 } = inf { v + z n + 1 : n N 0 } = v + u 0 = v > 0 .

Hence (2.1), (2.2) and (2.6) hold, that is, the conditions of Theorem 2.1 are fulfilled. Thus Theorem 2.1 guarantees that (a1)-(a4) hold. Moreover, T has a fixed point u 0 =0X.

Now we show that Theorem 2.1 in [5] is unapplicable in proving the existence of fixed points for the multi-valued mapping T. Otherwise there exists a function φ: R + [a,1), 0<a<1, such that

lim sup r t + φ(r)<1,t R + ,
(3.1)

and for any xX there is yT(x) satisfying

φ ( f ( x ) ) d(x,y)f(x)
(3.2)

and

f(y)φ ( f ( x ) ) d(x,y).
(3.3)

Note that

f(x)=d ( x , T ( x ) ) ={ 3 4 x , x [ 0 , 2 5 ) ( 2 5 , 1 ] , 1 15 , x = 2 5 , 13 15 , x = 6 5 .

Put x= 2 5 . For yT(x)={ 1 10 , 1 3 }, we discuss two cases as follows.

Case 1. y= 1 10 . It follows from (3.2) and (3.3) that

3 10 φ ( 1 15 ) = φ ( f ( 2 5 ) ) d ( 2 5 , 1 10 ) = φ ( f ( x ) ) d(x,y)f(x)=f ( 2 5 ) = 1 15

and

3 40 =f ( 1 10 ) =f(y)φ ( f ( x ) ) d(x,y)=φ ( f ( 2 5 ) ) d ( 2 5 , 1 10 ) = 3 10 φ ( 1 15 ) ,

which imply that

0.25= 1 4 φ ( 1 15 ) 4 81 =0.049,

which is impossible.

Case 2. y= 1 3 . It follows from (3.3) that

1 4 =f ( 1 3 ) =f(y)φ ( f ( x ) ) d(x,y)=φ ( f ( 2 5 ) ) d ( 2 5 , 1 3 ) = 1 15 φ ( 1 15 ) ,

which together with φ( R + )[a,1) yields that

15 4 φ ( 1 15 ) <1,

which is absurd.

Next we show that Theorem 5 in [8] is useless in proving the existence of fixed points for the multi-valued mapping T. Otherwise there exists a function φ: R + [0,1) such that (3.1) holds, and for any xX there is yT(x) satisfying

d(x,y) ( 2 φ ( d ( x , y ) ) ) f(x)
(3.4)

and

f(y)φ ( d ( x , y ) ) d(x,y).
(3.5)

Put x= 2 5 . For yT(x)={ 1 10 , 1 3 }, we discuss two cases as follows.

Case 1. y= 1 10 . It follows from (3.4) that

3 10 =d ( 2 5 , 1 10 ) =d(x,y) ( 2 φ ( d ( x , y ) ) ) f(x)= ( 2 φ ( 3 10 ) ) 1 15 ,

which together with φ( R + )[0,1) yields that

0φ ( 3 10 ) 5 2 <0,

which is a contradiction.

Case 2. y= 1 3 . It follows from (3.4) that

1 4 =f ( 1 3 ) =f(y)φ ( d ( x , y ) ) d(x,y)=φ ( d ( 2 5 , 1 3 ) ) d ( 2 5 , 1 3 ) = 1 15 φ ( 1 15 ) ,

which together with φ( R + )[0,1) gives that

15 4 φ ( 1 15 ) <1,

which is impossible.

Finally we show that Theorem 6 in [8] is futile in proving the existence of fixed points for the multi-valued mapping T. Otherwise there exist functions φ: R + (0,1), b: R + [b,1), b>0 such that

φ(t)<b(t), lim sup r t + φ(r)< lim sup r t + b(r),t R + ,
(3.6)

and for any xX, there is yT(x) satisfying (3.5) and

b ( d ( x , y ) ) d(x,y)f(x).
(3.7)

Put x= 2 5 . For yT(x)={ 1 10 , 1 3 }, we discuss two cases as follows.

Case 1. y= 1 10 . It follows from (3.7) and (3.5) that

3 10 b ( 3 10 ) =b ( d ( 2 5 , 1 10 ) ) d ( 2 5 , 1 10 ) =b ( d ( x , y ) ) d(x,y)f(x)=f ( 2 5 ) = 1 15

and

3 40 =f ( 1 10 ) =f(y)φ ( d ( x , y ) ) d(x,y)= 3 10 φ ( 3 10 ) ,

which together with (3.6) means that

b ( 3 10 ) 2 9 < 1 4 φ ( 3 10 ) <b ( 3 10 ) ,

which is absurd.

Case 2. y= 1 3 . It follows from (3.5) that

1 4 =f ( 1 3 ) =f(y)φ ( d ( x , y ) ) d(x,y)=φ ( d ( 2 5 , 1 3 ) ) d ( 2 5 , 1 3 ) = 1 15 φ ( 1 15 ) ,

which together with φ( R + )[0,1) gives that

15 4 φ ( 1 15 ) <1,

which is impossible.

Observe that Theorem 6 in [8] extends Theorem 3.1 in [2], Theorem 2.1 in [4] and Theorem 2.2 in [5]. It follows that Theorem 3.1 in [2], Theorem 2.1 in [4] and Theorem 2.2 in [5] are not applicable in proving the existence of fixed points for the multi-valued mapping T.

Remark 3.3 Theorem 2.2 extends, improves and unifies Theorem 3.1 in [2], Theorem 2.1 in [4], Theorem 2.2 in [5], Theorem 2.3 in [6], Theorems 2.3 and 2.5 in [7], Theorem 6 in [8], and Theorems 3.3 and 3.4 in [10]. The following example reveals that Theorem 2.2 generalizes indeed the corresponding results in [2, 4, 5, 8].

Example 3.4 Let X=[0,) be endowed with the Euclidean metric d=|| and p1 be a constant. Put u 0 =0. Define w:X×X R + , T:XCL(X), α:[0,)(0,1] and φ,ψ:[0,) R + by β:[0,)[0,1) by

w ( x , y ) = y p , x , y X , T ( x ) = { [ x 2 2 , x 2 ] , x [ 0 , 1 ) , [ 1 9 , 1 4 ] , x [ 1 , ) , α ( t ) = 5 + t 1 p 10 , β ( t ) = 3 + t 1 p 10 , t [ 0 , )

and

φ(t)=t,t[0,),ψ(t)={ t , t [ 0 , 1 ) , 1 2 , t [ 1 , ) .

It is easy to see that A w =[0,), (2.3), (2.4) and (2.5) hold, w is a w-distance in X and

f w (x)=w ( x , T ( x ) ) ={ ( x 2 2 ) p , x [ 0 , 1 ) , 1 9 p , x [ 1 , )

is T-orbitally lower semi-continuous in X, α and β are nondecreasing,

β(0)= 3 10 < 1 2 =α(0), lim inf r 0 + α(r)= 1 2 >0

and

lim sup r t + β ( r ) α ( r ) = 3 + t 1 p 5 + t 1 p <1,t A w .

Put x[0,1) and y= x 2 2 T(x). Note that

5+y10and ( y 2 ) p 1 4 p 3 + y 10

imply that

α ( w ( x , y ) ) φ ( w ( x , y ) ) = 5 + y 10 y p y p = f w (x)

and

f w (y)= ( y 2 2 ) p 3 + y 10 y p =β ( w ( x , y ) ) ψ ( w ( x , y ) ) .

Put x[1,) and y= 1 9 T(x)=[ 1 9 , 1 4 ]. It follows that

α ( w ( x , y ) ) φ ( w ( x , y ) ) = 5 + 1 9 10 1 9 p 1 9 p = f w (x)

and

f w (y)= 1 182 p 3 + 1 9 10 1 9 p =β ( w ( x , y ) ) ψ ( w ( x , y ) ) .

Let vX{0} and { z n } n N 0 be an orbit of T. It is easy to verify that lim n z n =0 and

inf { w ( z n , v ) + φ ( w ( z n , z n + 1 ) ) : n N 0 } = inf { v p + z n + 1 p : n N 0 } = v p > 0 .

That is, (2.6) and (2.23)-(2.25) hold. Thus the conditions of Theorem 2.2 are satisfied. Consequently, Theorem 2.2 ensures that (a1)-(a4) hold and u 0 =0 is a fixed point of the multi-valued mapping T in X.

Notice that

f(x)=d ( x , T ( x ) ) ={ x 2 , x [ 0 , 1 ) , x 1 4 , x [ 1 , )

and

lim inf x 1 f(x)= 1 2 < 3 4 =f(1),

which implies that f is not lower semi-continuous at 1. Thus Theorem 3.1 in [2], Theorem 2.1 in [4], Theorem 2.2 in [5] and Theorem 6 in [8] could not be used to judge the existence of fixed points of the multi-valued mapping T in X.