1 Introduction

Let (X, d) be a metric space. A mapping T : XX is a contraction if

d ( T ( x ) , T ( y ) ) k d ( x , y ) ,
(1.1)

for all x, yX, where 0 ≤ k < 1. The Banach Contraction Mapping Principle appeared in explicit form in Banach's thesis in 1922 [1]. Since its simplicity and usefulness, it has become a very popular tool in solving existence problems in many branches of mathematical analysis. Banach contraction principle has been extended in many different directions, see [210]. The notion of modular spaces, as a generalize of metric spaces, was introduced by Nakano [11] and was intensively developed by Koshi, Shimogaki, Yamamuro [1113] and others. Further and the most complete development of these theories are due to Luxemburg, Musielak, Orlicz, Mazur, Turpin [1418] and their collaborators. A lot of mathematicians are interested fixed points of Modular spaces, for example [4, 1926].

In 2008, Chistyakov [27] introduced the notion of modular metric spaces generated by F-modular and develop the theory of this spaces, on the same idea he was defined the notion of a modular on an arbitrary set and develop the theory of metric spaces generated by modular such that called the modular metric spaces in 2010 [28].

In this article, we study and prove the existence of fixed point theorems for contraction mappings in modular metric spaces.

2 Preliminaries

We will start with a brief recollection of basic concepts and facts in modular spaces and modular metric spaces (see [14, 15, 2729] for more details).

Definition 2.1. Let X be a vector space over(or). A functional ρ : X → [0, ∞] is called a modular if for arbitrary x and y, elements of X satisfies the following three conditions :

(A.1) ρ(x) = 0 if and only if x = 0;

(A.2) ρ(αx) = ρ(x) for all scalar α with |α| = 1;

(A.3) ρ(αx + βy) ≤ ρ(x) + ρ(y), whenever α, β ≥ 0 and α + β = 1.

If we replace (A.3) by

(A.4) ρ(αx + βy) ≤ αs ρ(x) + βs ρ(y), for α, β ≥ 0, αs + βs = 1 with an s ∈ (0, 1], then the modular ρ is called s-convex modular, and if s = 1, ρ is called a convex modular.

If ρ is modular in X, then the set defined by

X ρ = { x X : ρ ( λ x ) 0 as λ 0 + }
(2.1)

is called a modular space. X ρ is a vector subspace of X it can be equipped with an F-norm defined by setting

x ρ = inf { λ > 0 : ρ x λ λ } , x X ρ .
(2.2)

In addition, if ρ is convex, then the modular space X ρ coincides with

X ρ * = { x X : λ = λ ( x ) > 0 such that ρ ( λ x ) < }
(2.3)

and the functional x ρ * =inf { λ > 0 : ρ x λ 1 } is an ordinary norm on X ρ * which is equivalence to x ρ (see [16]).

Let X be a nonempty set, λ ∈ (0, ∞) and due to the disparity of the arguments, function w : (0, ∞) × X × X → [0, ∞] will be written as wλ(x, y) = w(λ, x, y) for all λ > 0 and x, yX.

Definition 2.2. [[28], Definition 2.1] Let X be a nonempty set. A function w : (0, ∞) × X × X → [0, ∞] is said to be a metric modular on X if satisfying, for all x, y, zX the following condition holds:

(i) w λ (x, y) = 0 for all λ > 0 if and only if x = y;

(ii) w λ (x, y) = w λ (y, x) for all λ > 0;

(iii) wλ + μ(x, y) ≤ w λ (x, z) + w μ (z, y) for all λ, μ > 0.

If instead of (i), we have only the condition

(i') w λ (x, x) = 0 for all λ > 0, then w is said to be a (metric) pseudomodular on X.

The main property of a (pseudo) modular w on a set X is a following: given x, yX, the function 0 < λw λ (x, y) ∈ [0, ∞] is a nonincreasing on (0, ∞).

In fact, if 0 < μ < λ, then (iii), (i') and (ii) imply

w λ ( x , y ) w λ - μ ( x , x ) + w μ ( x , y ) = w μ ( x , y ) .
(2.4)

It follows that at each point λ > 0 the right limit w λ + 0 ( x , y ) := lim ε + 0 w λ + ε ( x , y ) and the left limit w λ - 0 ( x , y ) := lim ε + 0 w λ - ε ( x , y ) exists in [0, ∞] and the following two inequalities hold :

w λ + 0 ( x , y ) w λ ( x , y ) w λ - 0 ( x , y ) .
(2.5)

Definition 2.3. [[28], Definition 3.3] A function w : (0, ∞) × X × X → [0, ∞] is said to be a convex (metric) modular on X if it is satisfies the conditions (i) and (ii) from Definition 2.2 as well as this condition holds;

(iv) w λ + μ ( x , y ) = λ λ + μ w λ ( x , z ) + μ λ + μ w μ ( z , y ) forallλ,μ>0andx,y,zX.

If instead of (i), we have only the condition (i') from Definition 2.2, then w is called a convex(metric) pseudomodular on X.

From [27, 28], we know that, if x0X, the set X w = { x X : lim λ w λ ( x , x 0 ) = 0 } is a metric space, called a modular space, whose metric is given by d w ( x , y ) =inf { λ > 0 : w λ ( x , y ) λ } for all x, yX w . Moreover, if w is convex, the modular set X w is equal to X w * = { x X : λ = λ ( x ) > 0 such that w λ (x, x0) <∞} and metrizable by d w * ( x , y ) =inf { λ > 0 : w λ ( x , y ) 1 } for all x,y X w * . We know that (see [[28], Theorem 3.11]) if X is a real linear space, ρ : X → [0, ∞] and

w λ ( x , y ) = ρ x - y λ for all  λ > 0 and  x , y X ,
(2.6)

then ρ is modular (convex modular) on X in the sense of (A.1)-(A.4) if and only if w is metric modular (convex metric modular, respectively) on X. On the other hand, if w satisfy the following two conditions (i) w λ (μx, 0) = w λ/μ (x, 0) for all λ, μ > 0 and xX, (ii) w λ (x + z, y + z) = w λ (x, y) for all λ > 0 and x, y, zX, if we set ρ(x) = w1(x, 0) with (2.6) holds, where xX, then

  1. (i)

    X ρ = X w is a linear subspace of X and the functional x ρ = d w ( x , 0 ) , xX ρ , is an F-norm on X ρ ;

  2. (ii)

    if w is convex, X ρ * X w * ( 0 ) = X ρ is a linear subspace of X and the functional x ρ = d w * ( x , 0 ) ,x X ρ * , is an norm on X ρ * .

Similar assertions hold if replace the word modular by pseudomodular. If w is metric modular in X, we called the set X w is modular metric space.

By the idea of property in metric spaces and modular spaces, we defined the following:

Definition 2.4. Let X w be a modular metric space.

(1) The sequence (x n )n∈ℕ in X w is said to be convergent to xX w if w λ (x n , x) → 0, as n →for all λ > 0.

(2) The sequence (x n ) n∈ℕ in X w is said to be Cauchy if w λ ( x m , x n ) → 0, as m, n →for all λ > 0.

(3) A subset C of X w is said to be closed if the limit of a convergent sequence of C always belong to C.

(4) A subset C of X w is said to be complete if any Cauchy sequence in C is a convergent sequence and its limit is in C.

(5) A subset C of X w is said to be bounded if for all λ > 0 δ w (C) = sup{w λ (x, y); x, yC} <∞.

3 Main results

In this section, we prove the existence of fixed points theorems for contraction mapping in modular metric spaces.

Definition 3.1. Let w be a metric modular on X and X w be a modular metric space induced by w and T : X w → X w be an arbitrary mapping. A mapping T is called a contraction if for each x, yX w and for all λ > 0 there exists 0 ≤ k < 1 such that

w λ ( T x , T y ) k w λ ( x , y ) .
(3.1)

Theorem 3.2. Let w be a metric modular on X and X w be a modular metric space induced by w. If X w is a complete modular metric space and T : X w → X w is a contraction mapping, then T has a unique fixed point in X w . Moreover, for any xX w , iterative sequence {Tnx} converges to the fixed point.

Proof. Let x0 ba an arbitrary point in X w and we write x1 = Tx0, x2 = Tx1 = T2x0, and in general, x n = Txn-1= Tnx0 for all n ∈ ℕ. Then,

w λ ( x n + 1 , x n ) = w λ ( T x n , T x n - 1 ) k w λ ( x n , x n - 1 ) = k w λ ( T x n - 1 , T x n - 2 ) k 2 w λ ( x n - 1 , x n - 2 ) k n w λ ( x 1 , x 0 )

for all λ > 0 and for each n ∈ ℕ. Therefore, lim n w λ ( x n + 1 , x n ) =0 for all λ > 0. So for each λ > 0, we have for all ∊ > 0 there exists n0 ∈ ℕ such that w λ (x n , xn+1) < ∊ for all n ∈ ℕ with n ≥ n0. Without loss of generality, suppose m, n ∈ ℕ and m > n. Observe that, for λ m - n >0, there exists nλ/(m-n)∈ ℕ such that

w λ m - n ( x n , x n + 1 ) < ε m - n

for all n ≥ nλ/(m-n). Now, we have

w λ ( x n , x m ) w λ m - n ( x n , x n + 1 ) + w λ m - n ( x n + 1 , x n + 2 ) + + w λ m - n ( x m - 1 , x m ) < ε m - n + ε m - n + + ε m - n = ε

for all m, n ≥ nλ/(m-n). This implies {x n }n∈ℕis a Cauchy sequence. By the completeness of X w , there exists a point xX w such that x n → × as n → ∞.

By the notion of metric modular w and the contraction of T, we get

w λ ( T x , x ) w λ 2 ( T x , T x n ) + w λ 2 ( T x n , x ) k w λ 2 ( x , x n ) + w λ 2 ( x n + 1 , x )
(3.2)

for all λ > 0 and for each n ∈ ℕ. Taking n → ∞ in (3.2) implies that w λ (Tx, x) = 0 for all λ > 0 and thus Tx = x. Hence, x is a fixed point of T. Next, we prove that x is a unique fixed point. Suppose that z is another fixed point of T. We see that

w λ ( x , z ) = w λ ( T x , T z ) k w λ ( x , z )

for all λ > 0. Since 0 ≤ k < 1, we get w λ (x, z) = 0 for all λ > 0 this implies that x = z. Therefore, x is a unique fixed point of T and the proof is complete.   □

Theorem 3.3. Let w be a metric modular on X and X w be a modular metric space induced by w. If X w is a complete modular metric space and T : X w → X w is a contraction mapping. Suppose x*X w is a fixed point of T, {ε n } is a sequence of positive numbers for which lim n ε n =0, and {y n } ⊆ X w satisfies

w λ ( y n + 1 , T y n ) ε n

for all λ > 0. Then, lim n y n = x * .

Proof. For each m ∈ ℕ, we observe that

w λ ( T m + 1 x , y m + 1 ) = w λ m m ( T m + 1 x , y m + 1 ) w λ ( m - 1 ) m ( T m + 1 x , T y m ) + w λ m ( T y m , y m + 1 ) k w λ ( m - 1 ) m ( T m x , y m ) + ε m k w λ ( m - 2 ) m ( T m x , T y m - 1 ) + k w λ m ( T y m - 1 x , y m ) + ε m k 2 w λ ( m - 2 ) m ( T m - 1 x , y m - 1 ) + k ε m - 1 + ε m i = 0 m k m - i ε i
(3.3)

for all λ > 0. Thus, we get

w λ ( y m + 1 , x * ) w λ 2 ( y m + 1 , T m + 1 x ) + w λ 2 ( T m + 1 x , x * ) i = 0 m k m - i ε i + w λ 2 ( T m + 1 x , x * ) .
(3.4)

Next, we claimed that lim m w λ ( y m + 1 , x * ) =0 for all λ > 0.

Now let ε > 0. Since lim n ε n =0, there exists N ∈ ℕ such that for m ≥ N, ε m ε. Thus,

i = 0 m k m - i ε i = i = 0 N k m - i ε i + i = N + 1 m k m - i ε i k m - N i = 0 N k N - i ε i + ε i = N + 1 m k m - i .
(3.5)

Taking limit as m → ∞ in (3.5), we have

lim m i = 0 m k m - i ε i = 0 .
(3.6)

Since x0 is a fixed point of T and using result of Theorem 3.2, we get the sequence {Tnx} converge to x*. This implies that

lim m w λ 2 ( T m + 1 x , x * ) = 0
(3.7)

for all λ > 0. From (3.4), (3.6) and (3.7), we have

lim m w λ ( y m + 1 , x * ) = 0
(3.8)

for all λ > 0 which implies that lim n y n = x * .   □

Theorem 3.4. Let w be a metric modular on X and X w be a modular metric space induced by w. If X w is a complete modular metric space and T : X w X w is a mapping, which TN is a contraction mapping for some positive integer N. Then, T has a unique fixed point in X w .

Proof. By Theorem 3.2 , TN has a unique fixed point uX w . From TN(T u ) = TN+1u = T(TNu) = Tu, so Tu is a fixed point of TN. By the uniqueness of fixed point of TN, we have Tu = u. Thus, u is a fixed point of T. Since fixed point of T is also fixed point of TN, we can conclude that T has a unique fixed point in X w .   □

Theorem 3.5. Let w be metric modular on X, X w be a complete modular metric space induced by w and for x*X w we define

B w ( x * , γ ) : = { x X w | w λ ( x , x * ) γ f o r a l l λ > 0 } .

If T : B w (x*, γ) → X w is a contraction mapping with

w λ 2 ( T x * , x * ) ( 1 - k ) γ
(3.9)

for all λ > 0, where 0 ≤ k < 1. Then, T has a unique fixed point in B w (x*, γ).

Proof. By Theorem 3.2 , we only prove that B w (x*, γ) is complete and TxB w (x*, γ), for all xB w (x*, γ). Suppose that {x n } is a Cauchy sequence in B w (x*, γ), also {x n } is a Cauchy sequence in X w . Since X w is complete, there exists xX w such that

lim n w λ 2 ( x n , x ) = 0
(3.10)

for all λ > 0. Since for each n ∈ ℕ, x n B w (x*, γ), using the property of metric modular, we get

w λ ( x * , x ) w λ 2 ( x * , x n ) + w λ 2 ( x n , x ) γ + w λ 2 ( x n , x * )
(3.11)

for all λ > 0. It follows the inequalities (3.10) and (3.11), we have w λ (x*, x) ≤ γ which implies that xB w (x*, γ). Therefore, {x n } is convergent sequence in B w (x*, γ) and also B w (x*, γ) is complete.

Next, we prove that TxB w (x*, γ) for all xB w (x*, γ). Let xB w (x*, γ). From the inequalities (3.9), using the contraction of T and the notion of metric modular, we have

w λ ( x * , T x ) w λ 2 ( x * , T x * ) + w λ 2 ( T x * , T x ) ( 1 - k ) γ + k w λ 2 ( x * , x ) ( 1 - k ) γ + k γ = γ .

Therefore, TxB w (x*, γ) and the proof is complete.

Theorem 3.6. Let w be a metric modular on X, X w be a complete modular metric space induced by w and T : X w X w . If

w λ ( T x , T y ) k ( w 2 λ ( T x , x ) + w 2 λ ( T y , y ) )
(3.12)

for all x, yX w and for all λ > 0, where k [ 0 , 1 2 ) , then T has a unique fixed point in X w . Moreover, for any xX w , iterative sequence {Tnx} converges to the fixed point.

Proof. Let x0 be an arbitrary point in X w and we write x1 = Tx0, x2 = Tx1 = T2x0, and in general, x n = Txn-1= Tnx0 for all n ∈ ℕ. If T x n 0 - 1 =T x n 0 for some n0 ∈ ℕ, then T x n 0 = x n 0 . Thus, x n 0 is a fixed point of T. Suppose that Txn-1Tx n for all n ∈ ℕ. For k [ 0 , 1 2 ) , we have

w λ ( x n + 1 , x n ) = w λ ( T x n , T x n - 1 ) k ( w 2 λ ( T x n , x n ) + w 2 λ ( T x n - 1 , x n - 1 ) ) k ( w λ ( x n + 1 , x n ) + w λ ( x n , x n - 1 ) )
(3.13)

for all λ > 0 and for all n ∈ ℕ. Hence,

w λ ( x n + 1 , x n ) k 1 - k w λ ( x n , x n - 1 )
(3.14)

for all λ > 0 and for all n ∈ ℕ. Put β:= k 1 - k , since k [ 0 , 1 2 ) , we get β ∈ [0, 1) and hence

w λ ( x n + 1 , x n ) β w λ ( x n , x n - 1 ) β 2 w λ ( x n - 1 , x n - 2 ) β n w λ ( x 1 , x 0 )
(3.15)

for all λ > 0 and for all n ∈ ℕ. Similar to the proof of Theorem 3.2, we can conclude that {x n } is a Cauchy sequence and by the completeness of X w there exists a point xX w such that x n x as n → ∞. By the property of metric modular and the inequality (3.12), we have

w λ ( T x , x ) w λ 2 ( T x , T x n ) + w λ 2 ( T x n , x ) k ( w λ ( T x , x ) + w λ ( T x n , x n ) ) + w λ 2 ( T x n , x ) k ( w λ ( T x , x ) + w λ 2 ( T x n , x ) + w λ 2 ( x , x n ) ) + w λ 2 ( T x n , x ) = k ( w λ ( T x , x ) + w λ 2 ( x n + 1 , x ) + w λ 2 ( x , x n ) ) + w λ 2 ( x n + 1 , x )
(3.16)

for all λ > 0 and for all n ∈ ℕ. Taking n → ∞ in the inequality (3.16), we obtained that

w λ ( T x , x ) k w λ ( T x , x ) .
(3.17)

Since k [ 0 , 1 2 ) , we have Tx = x. Thus, x is a fixed point of T. Next, we prove that x is a unique fixed point. Suppose that z be another fixed point of T. We note that

w λ ( x , z ) = w λ ( T x , T z ) k ( w λ 2 ( T x , x ) + w λ 2 ( T z , z ) ) = 0

for all λ > 0, which implies that x = z. Therefore, x is a unique fixed point of T.   □

Now, we shall give a validate example of Theorem 3.2 .

Example 3.7. Let X = {(a, 0) ∈ ℝ2|0 ≤ a ≤ 1} ∪ {(0, b) ∈ ℝ2|0 ≤ b ≤ 1}.

Defined the mapping w : (0, ∞) × X × X → [0, ∞] by

w λ ( ( a 1 , 0 ) , ( a 2 , 0 ) ) = 4 | a 1 - a 2 | 3 λ ,
w λ ( ( 0 , b 1 ) , ( 0 , b 2 ) ) = | b 1 - b 2 | λ ,

and

w λ ( ( a , 0 ) , ( 0 , b ) ) = 4 a 3 λ + b λ = w λ ( ( 0 , b ) , ( a , 0 ) ) .

We note that if we take λ → ∞, then we see that X = X w and also X w is a complete modular metric space. We let a mapping T : X w X w is define by

T ( ( a , 0 ) ) = ( 0 , a )

and

T ( ( 0 , b ) ) = b 2 , 0 .

Simple computations show that

w λ ( T ( ( a 1 , b 1 ) ) , T ( ( a 2 , b 2 ) ) ) 3 4 w λ ( ( a 1 , b 1 ) , ( a 2 , b 2 ) )

for all (a1, b1), (a2, b2) ∈ X w . Thus, T is a contraction mapping with constant k= 3 4 . Therefore, T has a unique fixed point that is (0, 0) ∈ X w .

On the Euclidean metric d on X w , we see that

d ( T ( ( 0 , 0 ) ) , T ( ( 1 , 0 ) ) ) = d ( ( 0 , 0 ) , ( 0 , 1 ) ) = 1 > k = k d ( ( 0 , 0 ) , ( 1 , 0 ) )

for all k ∈ [0, 1). Thus, T is not a contraction mapping and then the Banach contraction mapping cannot be applied to this example.