System of equations $F(\mathbf x)=\mathbf c$ has unique solution for any $\mathbf c$, then $F$ is strictly monotonic

calculuslinear algebramonotone-functionsreal-analysis

Function $F=(f_1,f_2)$. $f_1$ and $f_2$ are differentiable real functions $\mathbb R^2\to\mathbb R$. Consider a system of equations:

$$f_1(x_1,x_2)=c_1$$
$$f_2(x_1,x_2)=c_2$$

What is the sufficient and necessary condition of that $x$ has unique solution for any $c$?

One may conjecture that $(x'-x)(F(x')-F(x))>0$ or $<0$ for any $x\neq x'$.


We know that in one dimension, To ensure that $g(x)=c$ have a unique solution for any constant $c$, $g$ must be either strictly increasing or decreasing. Does this idea extend to multi-variate functions?

Best Answer

You are considering a differentiable function $F: \mathbb R^2 \rightarrow \mathbb R^2$.

You are asking if there is a unique solution of $F$ for any element in the target set $\mathbb R^2$.

Hence $F$ must be both injective and surjective.

So $F$ must be a differentiable bijective map from $\mathbb R^2 \rightarrow \mathbb R^2$. Don't complicate yourself with $f_1$ and $f_2$s.

If you think about it, isn't that exactly what monotonicity says in 1D functions?

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