1 Introduction

The stability problem of functional equations originated from a question of Ulam [1] concerning the stability of group homomorphisms.

We are given a group G1 and a metric group G2 with metric ρ (·,·). Given ϵ > 0, does there exist a δ > 0 such that if f : G1G2 satisfies ρ(f(xy),f(x)f(y)) < δ for all x,yG1, then a homomorphism h : G1G2 exists with ρ(f(x), h(x)) < ϵ for all x ϵ G1?

In other words, we are looking for situations when the homomorphisms are stable, i.e., if a mapping is almost a homomorphism, then there exists a true homomorphism near it.

In 1941, Hyers [2] considered the case of approximately additive mappings between Banach spaces and proved the following result. Suppose that E1 and E2 are Banach spaces and f : E1E2 satisfies the following condition: there is a constant ϵ ≥ 0 such that

| f ( x + y ) - f ( x ) - ( y ) | | ε

for all x,yE1. Then, the limit h ( x ) = lim n f ( 2 n x ) 2 n exists for all xE1, and it is a unique additive mapping h:E1E2 such that ||f(x) - h(x)|| ≤ ϵ.

The method which was provided by Hyers, and which produces the additive mapping h, was called a direct method. This method is the most important and most powerful tool for studying the stability of various functional equations. Hyers' theorem was generalized by Aoki [3] and Bourgin [4] for additive mappings by considering an unbounded Cauchy difference. In 1978, Rassias [5] also provided a generalization of Hyers' theorem for linear mappings which allows the Cauchy difference to be unbounded like this ||x||p+ ||y||p. Let E1 and E2 be two Banach spaces and f : E1E2 be a mapping such that f(tx) is continuous in tR for each fixed x. Assume that there exists ϵ > 0 and 0 ≤ p < 1 such that

| | f ( x + y ) - f ( x ) - f ( y ) | | ε ( | | x | | p + | | y | | p ) , x , y E 1 .

Then, there exists a unique R-linear mapping T : E1E2 such that

| | f ( x ) - T ( x ) | | 2 2 - 2 p | | x | | p

for all xE1. A generalized result of Rassias' theorem was obtained by Găvruta in [6] and Jung in [7]. In 1990, Rassias [8] during the 27th International Symposium on Functional Equations asked the question whether such a theorem can also be proved for p ≥ 1. In 1991, Gajda [9], following the same approach as in [5], gave an affirmative solution to this question for p > 1. It was shown by Gajda [9], as well as by Rassias and [001]emrl [10], that one cannot prove a Rassias' type theorem when p = 1. The counterexamples of Gajda [9], as well as of Rassias and [001]emrl [10], have stimulated several mathematicians to invent new approximately additive or approximately linear mappings. In particular, Rassias [11, 12] proved a similar stability theorem in which he replaced the unbounded Cauchy difference by this factor ||x||p||y||qfor p,qR with p + q ≠ 1.

Let G be an n-divisible abelian group nN (i.e., ana : GG is a surjection ) and X be a normed space with norm || · ||. Now, for a mapping f : GX, we consider the following generalized Cauchy-Jensen equation

f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) = n f x + y n + z , n 2

for all x,y, zG, which has been introduced in [13].

Proposition 1.1. For a mapping f : GX, the following statements are equivalent.

  1. (a)

    f is additive,

  2. (b)

    f ( x ) +f ( y ) +nf ( z ) =nf x + y n + z ,

  3. (c)

    ||f ( x ) +f ( y ) +nf ( z ) || n f x + y n + z

for all x, y, zG.

As a special case for n = 2, the generalized Hyers-Ulam stability of functional equation (b) and functional inequality (c) has been presented in [13]. We remark that there are some interesting papers concerning the stability of functional inequalities and the stability of functional equations in quasi-Banach spaces [1418]. In this article, we are going to improve the theorems given in [13] without using the oddness of approximate additive functions concerning the functional inequality (c) for a more general case.

2 Generalized Hyers-Ulam stability of (c)

We recall some basic facts concerning quasi-Banach spaces and some preliminary results. Let X be a real linear space. A quasi-norm is a real-valued function on X satisfying the following:

  1. (1)

    ||x|| ≥ 0 for all xX and ||x|| = 0 if and only if x = 0.

  2. (2)

    ||λx|| = |λ|||x|| for all λ ∈ R and all xX.

  3. (3)

    There is a constant M ≥ 1 such that ||x + y|| ≤ M(||x|| + ||y||) for all x,yX.

The pair (X, || · ||) is called a quasi-normed space if || · || is a quasi-norm on X [19, 20]. The smallest possible M is called the modulus of concavity of || · ||. A quasi-Banach space is a complete quasi-normed space.

A quasi-norm || · || is called a p- norm (0 < p ≤ 1) if

| | x + y | | p | | x | | p + | | y | | p

for all x,yX. In this case, a quasi-Banach space is called a p-Banach space.

Given a p-norm, the formula d(x,y) := ||x - y||pgives us a translation invariant metric on X. By the Aoki-Rolewicz theorem [20], each quasi-norm is equivalent to some p-norm (see also [19]). Since it is much easier to work with p-norms, henceforth, we restrict our attention mainly to p-norms. We observe that if x1, x2,..., x n are non-negative real numbers, then

i = 1 n x i p i = 1 n x i p ,

where 0 < p ≤ 1 [21].

From now on, let G be an n-divisible abelian group for some positive integer n ≥ 2, and let Y be a p-Banach space with the modulus of concavity M.

Theorem 2.1. Suppose that a mapping f : GY with f(0) = 0 satisfies the functional inequality

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f x + y n + z + φ ( x , y , z )
(1)

for all x, y, zG, and the perturbing function φ : G3 →R+ satisfies

Φ ( x , y , z ) : = i = 0 φ ( n i x , n i y , n i z ) p n i p <

for all x,y,zG. Then, there exists a unique additive mapping h : GY, defined as h ( x ) = lim k f ( n k x ) - f ( - n k x ) 2 n k , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M 2 2 n [ Φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + Φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) ] 1 p + M 2 φ ( x , - x , 0 )
(2)

for all xG.

Proof. Let y = -x, z = 0 in (1) and dividing both sides by 2, we have

f ( x ) + f ( - x ) 2 φ ( x , - x , 0 ) 2
(3)

for all xG. Replacing x by nx and letting y = 0 and z = -x in (1), we get

| | f ( n x ) + n f ( - x ) | | φ ( n x , 0 , - x )
(4)

for all xG. Replacing x by -x in (4), one has

| | f ( - n x ) + n f ( x ) | | φ ( - n x , 0 , x )
(5)

for all xG. Put g ( x ) = f ( x ) - f ( - x ) 2 . Combining (4) and (5) yields

| | n g ( x ) - g ( n x ) | | M 2 ( φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) )

that is,

g ( x ) - 1 n g ( n x ) M 2 n ( φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) )
(6)

for all xG. It follows from (6) that

g ( n l x n l g ( n m x ) n m p k = l m 1 1 n k g ( n k x ) 1 n k + 1 g ( n k + 1 x ) p = k = 1 m 1 1 n k p g ( n k x ) 1 n g ( n k + 1 x ) p k = 1 m 1 M p 2 p n ( k + 1 ) p [ φ ( n k + 1 x , 0 , n k x ) p + φ ( n k + 1 x , 0 , n k x ) p ]
(7)

for all nonnegative integers m and l with m > l ≥ 0 and xG. Since the right-hand side of (7) tends to zero as l → ∞, we obtain the sequence { g ( n m x n m } is Cauchy for all xG. Because of the fact that Y is complete, it follows that the sequence { g ( n m x n m } converges in Y. Therefore, we can define a function h : GY by

h ( x ) = lim m g ( n m x ) n m = lim m f ( n m x ) - f ( - n m x ) 2 n m , x G .

Moreover, letting l = 0 and taking m → ∞ in (7), we get

f ( x ) - f ( - x ) 2 - h ( x ) | | g ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M 2 n [ Φ ( n x , 0 - x ) + Φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) ] 1 p
(8)

for all xG. It follows from (3) and (8) that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M 2 2 n [ Φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + Φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) ] 1 p + M 2 φ ( x , - x , 0 )

for all xG.

It follows from (1) and (4) that

| | h ( x ) + h ( y ) h ( x + y ) | | p = | | h ( x ) + h ( y ) + h ( x y ) | | p = lim k 1 n k p | | g ( n k x ) + g ( n k y ) + g ( n k ( x + y ) ) | | p lim k 1 2 p n k p ( | | f ( n k x ) + f ( n k y ) + n f ( n k 1 ( x + y ) ) | | p + | | f ( n k x ) f ( n k y ) n f ( n k 1 ( x + y ) ) | | p + | | n f ( n k 1 ( x + y ) ) + f ( n k ( x + y ) ) | | p + | | n f ( n k 1 ( x + y ) ) + f ( n k ( x + y ) ) | | p lim k 1 2 p n k p ( φ ( n k x , n k y , n k 1 ( x + y ) ) p + φ ( n k x , n k y , n k 1 ( x + y ) ) p + φ ( n k ( x + y ) , 0 , n k 1 ( x + y ) ) p + φ ( n k ( x + y ) , 0 , n k 1 ( x + y ) ) p ) = 0

for all x,yG. This implies that the mapping h is additive.

Next, let h' : GY be another additive mapping satisfying

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M 2 2 n [ Φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + Φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) ] 1 p + M 2 φ ( x , - x , 0 )

for all xG. Then, we have

| | h ( x ) - h ( x ) | | p = 1 n k h ( n k x ) - 1 n k h ( n k x ) p 1 n k p ( | | h ( n k x ) - f ( n k x ) | | p + | | f ( n k x ) - h ( n k x ) | | p ) 2 M 2 p 2 p n ( k + 1 ) p [ Φ ( n k + 1 x , 0 , - n k x ) + Φ ( - n k + 1 x , 0 , n k x ) ] + 2 M p 2 p n k p φ ( n k x , - n k x , 0 ) p = i = k 2 M 2 p 2 p n ( i + 1 ) p [ φ ( n i + 1 x , 0 , - n i x ) p + φ ( - n i + 1 x , 0 , n i x ) p ] + 2 M p φ ( n k x , - n k x , 0 ) p 2 p n k p

for all k ∈ N and all xG. Taking the limit as k → ∞, we conclude that

h ( x ) = h ( x )

for all xG. This completes the proof.

Suppose that X is a normed space in the following corollaries. If we put φ(x,y,z) := θ(||x||q||y||r||z||s) and φ (x,y,z) := θ(||x||q+ ||y||r+ ||z||s) in Theorem 2.1, respectively, then we get the following Corollaries 2.2 and 2.3.

Corollary 2.2. Let q + r + s < 1, q, r, s > 0, θ > 0. If a mapping f : XY with f(0) = 0 satisfies the following functional inequality:

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f ( x + y n + x ) + θ ( | | x | | q | | y | | r | | z | | s

for all x, y, zX, then f is additive.

Corollary 2.3. Let 0 < q,r,s <1, θ1,θ2 > 0. If a mapping f : XY with f(0) = 0 satisfies the following functional inequality:

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f x + y n + z + θ 1 ( | | x | | q + | | y | | r + | | z | | s ) + θ 2

for all x,y,zX, then there exists a unique additive mapping h : XY, defined as h ( x ) = lim k f ( n k x ) - f ( - n k x ) 2 n k , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M 2 2 p 2 n p q θ 1 p | | x | | p q n p - n p q + θ 1 p | | x | | p s n p - n p s + θ 2 p n p - 1 1 p + M 2 ( θ 1 | | x | | q + θ 1 | | x | | r + θ 2 )

for all xX.

Noting the inequality

| | f ( n x ) - n f ( x ) | | M [ φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + n φ ( x , - x , 0 ) ]

according to the inequalities (3) and (4), then we can similarly prove another stability theorem under the same condition as in Theorem 2.1:

Remark 2.4. Let φ : G3R+ and f : GY satisfy the assumptions of Theorem 2.1. Then, there exists a unique additive mapping h : G → Y, defined by h ( x ) = lim k f ( n k x ) n k , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M n [ Φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + n p Φ ( x , - x , 0 ) ] 1 p

for all xG using the similar argument to Theorem 2.1.

In particular, if a mapping f : XY with f(0) = 0 satisfies the following functional inequality:

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f x + y n + z + θ 1 ( | | x | | q + | | y | | r + | | z | | s ) + θ 2

for all x,y,z in a normed space X, where 0 < q,r,s < 1, θ1,θ2 > 0, then there exists a unique additive mapping h : XY such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M ( n p q + n p ) θ 1 p | | x | | p q n p - n p q + n p θ 1 p | | x | | p r n p - n p r + θ 1 p | | x | | p s n p - n p s + ( 1 + n p ) θ 2 2 n p - 1 1 p

for all xX.

We may obtain more simple and sharp approximation than that of Theorem 2.1 for the stability result under the oddness condition.

Remark 2.5. Let φ : G3 → R+ and f : GY satisfy the assumptions of Theorem 2.1. Moreover, if the mapping f is odd, then there exists a unique additive mapping h : GY, defined by h ( x ) = lim k f ( n k x ) n k , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | 1 n Φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) 1 p

for all xG.

Now, we consider another stability result of functional inequality (c) in the followings.

Theorem 2.6. Suppose that a mapping f : GY satisfies

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f x + y n + z + φ ( x , y , z )
(9)

and the perturbing function φ : G3 → R+ is such that

Ψ ( x , y , z ) : = i = 1 n i p φ x n i , y n i , z n i p <

for all x,y,zG. Then, there exists a unique additive mapping h : GY, defined h ( x ) lim k n k 2 f ( x n k ) - f ( - x n k ) , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M 2 2 n [ Ψ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + Ψ ( - n x , 0 , x ) ] 1 p + M 2 φ ( x , - x , 0 )
(10)

for all xG.

Proof. We observe that f(0) = 0 because of φ(0,0,0) = 0 by the convergence of Ψ(0,0,0) < ∞. Now, combining (4) and (5) yields the functional inequality

| | g ( x ) - n g x n | | M 2 φ x , 0 , - x n + φ - x , 0 , x n ,

where g ( x ) = f ( x ) - f ( - x ) 2 , xG. It follows from the last inequality that

g ( x ) - n m g x n m p M p 2 p i = 0 m - 1 n i p φ x n i , 0 , - x n i + 1 p + φ - x n i , 0 , x n i + 1 p
(11)

for all x ∈ G.

The remaining proof is similar to the corresponding proof of Theorem 2.1. This completes the proof.

Suppose that X is a normed space in the following corollaries. If we put φ(x,y,z) := θ(||x||q||y||r||z||s) and φ(x,y,z) := θ(||x||q+ ||y||r+ ||z||s) in Theorem 2.6, respectively, then we get the following Corollaries 2.7 and 2.8.

Corollary 2.7. Let q + r + s > 1, q,r, s > 0, θ > 0. If a mapping f : XY satisfies the following functional inequality:

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f ( x + y n + x ) + θ ( | | x | | q | | y | | r | | z | | s

for all x, y, z ∈ X, then f is additive.

Corollary 2.8. Let q,r,s > 1, θ1 > 0. If a mapping f : XY satisfies the following functional inequality:

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f x + y n + z + θ 1 ( | | x | | q + | | y | | r + | | z | | s )

for all x,y,zX, then there exists a unique additive mapping h : XY, defined as h ( x ) lim k n k 2 f ( x n k ) - f ( - x n k ) , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M 2 2 θ 1 p 2 n p q | | x | | p q n p q - n p + | | x | | p s n p s - n p 1 p + M θ 1 2 ( | | x | | q + | | x | | r )

for all xX.

We can similarly prove another stability theorem under somewhat different conditions as follows:

Remark 2.9. Let φ : G3 → R+ and f : GY satisfy the assumptions of Theorem 2.6. Then, there exists a unique additive mapping h : GY, defined by h(x) = h ( x ) = lim k n k f ( x n k ) , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M n [ Ψ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + n p Ψ ( x , - x , 0 ) ] 1 p

for all xG.

In particular, if a mapping f : XY satisfies the following functional inequality:

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f x + y n + z + θ 1 ( | | x | | q + | | y | | r + | | z | | s )

for all x,y, z in a normed space X, where q,r,s > 1, θ 1 > 0, then there exists a unique additive mapping h : XY such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M θ 1 ( n p q + n p ) | | x | | p q n p q - n p + | | x | | p s n p s - n p + n p | | x | | p r n p r - n p 1 p

for all xX.

We may obtain more simple and sharp approximation than that of Theorem 2.6 for the stability result under the oddness condition.

Remark 2.10. Let φ : G3 → R+ and f : GY satisfy the assumptions of Theorem 2.6. If the mapping f is odd, then there exists a unique additive mapping h : GY, defined by h ( x ) = lim k n k f ( x n k ) , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | 1 n Ψ ( n x , 0 , - x ) 1 p

for all xG.

3 Alternative generalized Hyers-Ulam stability of (c)

From now on, we investigate the generalized Hyers-Ulam stability of the functional inequality (c).

Theorem 3.1. Suppose that a mapping f : GY with f(0) = 0 satisfies the functional inequality

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f x + y n + z + φ ( x , y , z )

for all x,y,zG and there exists a constant L with 0 < L < 1 for which the perturbing function φ : G3R+ satisfies

φ ( n x , n y , n z ) n L φ ( x , y , z )
(12)

for all x,y,zG. Then, there exists a unique additive mapping h : GY, defined as h ( x ) = lim k f ( n k x ) - f ( - n k x ) 2 n k , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M 2 2 n 1 - L p p [ φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) ] + M 2 φ ( x , - x , 0 )

for all xG.

Proof. It follows from (7) and (12) that

g ( n 1 x ) n 1 - g ( n m x ) n m p k = 1 m - 1 M p 2 p n ( k + 1 ) p [ φ ( n k + 1 x , 0 , - n k x ) + φ ( - n k + 1 x , 0 , n k x ) ] p k = 1 m - 1 M p L k p 2 p n p [ φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) ] p

for all nonnegative integers m and l with m > l ≥ 0 and xG,where g ( x ) = f ( x ) - f ( - x ) 2 . Since the sequence { g ( n m x n m } is Cauchy for all xG, we can define a function h : GY by

h ( x ) = lim m g ( n m x ) n m = lim m f ( n m x ) - f ( - n m x ) 2 n m , x G .

Moreover, letting l = 0 and m → ∞ in the last inequality yields

f ( x ) - f ( - x ) 2 - h ( x ) M 2 n 1 - L p p [ φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) ]
(13)

for all xG. It follows from (3) and (13) that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M 2 2 n 1 - L p p [ φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) ] + M 2 φ ( x , - x , 0 )

for all x ∈ G.

The remaining proof is similar to the corresponding proof of Theorem 2.1. This completes the proof.

Remark 3.2. Let φ : G3R+ and f : GY satisfy the assumptions of Theorem 3.1. Then, there exists a unique additive mapping h : GY, defined by h ( x ) = lim k f ( n k x ) n k , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M n 1 - L p p [ φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + n φ ( x , - x , 0 ) ]

for all xG using the similar argument to Theorem 3.1.

In particular, if a mapping f : XY with f(0) = 0 satisfies the following functional inequality:

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f x + y n + z + θ 1 ( | | x | | r + | | y | | r + | | z | | r ) + θ 2

for all x, y, z in a normed space X, where 0 < r < 1, θ1, θ2 > 0, then there exists a unique additive mapping h : XY such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M n p - n p r p ( ( n r + 2 n + 1 ) θ 1 | | x | | r + ( n + 1 ) θ 2 )

for all xX, by considering L := nr- 1.

Theorem 3.3. Suppose that a mapping f : GY satisfies the functional inequality

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f x + y n + z + φ ( x , y , z )

for all x,y,z ∈ G and there exists a constant L with 0 < L < 1 for which the perturbing function φ : G3R+ satisfies

φ x n , y n , z n L n φ ( x , y , z )
(14)

for all x,y,zG. Then, there exists a unique additive mapping h : GY, defined as h ( x ) lim k n k 2 f ( x n k ) - f ( - x n k ) , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M 2 L 2 n 1 - L p p [ φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) ] + M 2 φ ( x , - x , 0 )

for all xG.

Proof. We observe that f(0) = 0 because φ(0,0,0) = 0, which follows from the condition φ ( 0 , 0 , 0 ) L n φ ( 0 , 0 , 0 ) . It follows from the inequality (11) and (14) that

g ( x ) - n m g x n m p M p 2 p i = 0 m - 1 n i p φ x n i , 0 , - x n i + 1 + φ - x n i , 0 , x n i + 1 p M p 2 p n p i = 0 m - 1 L ( i + 1 ) p [ φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + φ ( - n x , 0 , x ) ] p

for all xG, where g ( x ) = f ( x ) - f ( - x ) 2 , xG.

The remaining proof is similar to the corresponding proof of Theorem 2.1. This completes the proof.

Remark 3.4. Let φ : G3R+ and f : GY satisfy the assumptions of Theorem 3.3. Then, there exists a unique additive mapping h : GY, defined by h ( x ) = lim k n k f ( x n k ) , such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M L n 1 - L p p [ φ ( n x , 0 , - x ) + n φ ( x , - x , 0 ) ]

for all xG using the similar argument to Theorem 3.3.

In particular, if a mapping f : XY satisfies the following functional inequality:

| | f ( x ) + f ( y ) + n f ( z ) | | n f x + y n + z + θ 1 ( | | x | | r + | | y | | r + | | z | | r )

for all x, y, z in a normed space X, where r > 1, θ 1 > 0, then there exists a unique additive mapping h : XY such that

| | f ( x ) - h ( x ) | | M n p r - n p p ( n r + 2 n + 1 ) θ 1 | | x | | r

for all xX, by considering L : = n1-r.