1. Introduction
The fundamental concept of a metric space, independently introduced by Maurice Fréchet [
1], lays the groundwork for fixed point theory. A metric space provides the mathematical setting in which fixed point theorems are often formulated and proven. The concept of a metric space captures the idea of distance between points, and fixed point theorems establish conditions under which certain mappings in metric spaces have points that map to themselves. In 1922, Stefan Banach established the first result in this theory, which is well known as the Banach contraction principle [
2]. Jleli et al. [
3] introduced a novel form of contraction called
-contraction and formulated a fresh fixed point theorem to extend the Banach contraction principle.
Czerwik [
4] introduced the innovative idea of
b-metric spaces and demonstrated a fixed point theorem for mappings of a contractive nature. The
b-metric space serves as an extension of metric spaces, relaxing the triangle inequality and incorporating the
b-metric inequality as a more lenient condition. Consequently,
b-metric spaces play a crucial role in mathematics by offering a versatile framework for investigating structures based on distance that may not adhere strictly to the triangle inequality, enabling the exploration of a diverse range of phenomena not fully captured by traditional metric spaces. Subsequently, Jleli et al. [
5] introduced an innovative metric space referred to as the
-metric space, expanding beyond the traditional realms of both classical metric space and
b-metric space. The concept of
-metric space provides a broader context for studying fixed point theorems and has implications for various areas of mathematics, including functional analysis and topology.
On the other hand, Basha [
6] gave the concept of a best proximity point in the 1960s, extending the idea of a fixed point in a more generalized form. The concept of a best proximity point is a powerful tool for analyzing the behavior of functions and sets in metric spaces. It has been extensively studied and has found applications in a wide range of fields. Later on, Eldred et al. [
7] studied the properties of best proximity points and provided several conditions that guarantee the existence and convergence of best proximity points for different types of mappings. Best proximity points are pivotal in diverse mathematical fields, including optimization, approximation theory, ordinary differential equations and fractional differential equations. Best proximity points are particularly useful in ordinary differential equations and fractional differential equations, as they provide a powerful tool for analyzing the behavior of solutions and establishing existence and uniqueness results. Gabeleh et al. [
8] discussed the existence of a solution for a system of differential equations by using the best proximity point methods under suitable assumptions. Patle et al. [
9] obtained Sadovskii-type best proximity point results with an application to fractional differential equations. Very recently, Lateef [
10] obtained best proximity point results for (
−
)-contraction in the context of
-metric spaces. Some coupled best proximity points on
-metric spaces endowed with an arbitrary binary relation are also established by Lateef [
10]. For further details from this standpoint, we direct readers to [
11,
12,
13,
14,
15,
16,
17,
18,
19,
20]. In this manuscript, we introduce the notion of
-proximal contraction within the framework of
-metric space, establishing the existence and uniqueness of best proximity points for these contractions. To showcase the practical implications, we utilize our findings on best proximity points to illustrate solutions for differential equations, including the equation of motion, as well as fractional differential equations.
2. Preliminaries
As a foundation for this section, we present the precise definition of a metric space.
Definition 1 ([
1])
. Consider a non-empty set . A function is deemed a metric if the following conditions are satisfied: if and only if
for all
The pair is consequently referred to as a metric space.
Theorem 1 ([
2])
. Consider a self-mapping on a complete metric space If there exists a constant such that for all , then possesses a unique fixed point. Jleli et al. [
3] presented a novel form of contraction termed
-contraction and derived several fresh fixed point theorems applicable to this type of contraction within the realm of generalized metric spaces.
Let be a set of mappings satisfying
- ( )
( ) (ℓ) for all ,
- ( )
For , ⟺
- ( )
There exists and such that
Definition 2 ([
3])
. A function is characterized as a Θ-contraction when there exists a function Θ adhering to conditions ( )–( ) and a constant such that for every , Theorem 2 ([
3])
. In the scenario where forms a complete metric space and is a Θ-contraction, it follows that possesses a unique fixed point. Czerwik [
4] extended the concept of the classical metric space in this manner.
Definition 3 ([
4])
. Consider a non-empty set and . A function A function is termed a b-metric if the following conditions are met: if and only if
for all
The combination is consequently denoted as a b-metric space.
In recent times, Jleli et al. [
5] presented an intriguing expansion of a metric space using this approach.
Consider as the collection of continuous functions that adhere to the following criteria:
- ( )
implies
- ( )
For all , ⟺
Definition 4 ([
5])
. Let and let be a continuous function. Assume that there exist such that - (D)
, if and only if .
- (D)
, for all
- (D)
For every , for every , , and for every with , we have Then is called an -metric space.
Example 1 ([
5])
. The function with and , is an -metric. Definition 5 ([
5])
. Consider as an -metric space.(i) Consider a sequence . Then is characterized as -convergent to if converges to with respect to the -metric d.
(ii) A sequence in -metric space is denoted as -Cauchy, if and only if
(iii) If each -Cauchy sequence within is -convergent to a point in , then is considered -complete.
Theorem 3 ([
5])
. Consider to be an -metric space with a mapping . Suppose that the following conditions hold:(i) is -complete;
(ii) There exists such that Then, possesses a unique fixed point . Furthermore, for any , the sequence defined byis -convergent to . Inspired by the work of Lateef [
10], we give the concept of best proximity point within the framework of an
-metric space in the following manner.
Definition 6 ([
10])
. Let be an -metric space and , . A point is characterized as the best proximity point of when it meets the condition that Consistent with Lateef et al. [
10], we give the
-distance among the two nonempty sets
and
that fulfill the property P.
Definition 7 ([
10])
. Let be an -metric space and , , then is -distance between two nonempty sets and Now define and by The pair is deemed to possess the property P if and Definition 8 ([
10])
. Let be an -metric space and , . A mapping is called α-proximal admissible if there exists such that where
Lateef [
10] proved the following best proximity result.
Theorem 4 ([
10])
. Let be a complete -metric space and , such that . Assume that there exist the mapping and the comparison functions and such that the following assertions hold:(ii) The mapping is α-proximal admissible mapping;
(iii) and satisfies the property P;
(iv) There exists such that (v) is continuous or for a sequence such that for all n and as , then there exists of such that for all k.
Then there exists such that
3. Results and Discussion
We shall use and to refer to the sets of all non-empty and closed subsets of , respectively.
Definition 9. Let is -metric space and , A mapping is characterized as an -proximal contraction if there exist the functions and the constants such thatfor all . Theorem 5. Let be a complete -metric space and , such that . Let and Assume that is an -proximal contraction that fulfills the following conditions:
(i) is α-proximal admissible mapping;
(ii) and satisfies the property P;
(iii) There exists such that (iv) is continuous.
Then there exists such that
Proof. By the hypothesis (iii), there exists
such that
Since
there exists
such that
Now, we have
and
As the mapping
is
-proximal admissible, we obtain
Hence,
Again, since
there exists
such that
Now, we have
and
As the mapping
is
-proximal admissible, we obtain
Hence
Utilizing the inductive approach, we can systematically construct
such that
for all
Assume that
for some
k. From (
6), we have
i.e.,
is a best proximity point of
. Therefore, we posit that
for all
As (
) satisfies the property
P, we summarize from (
6) that
for all
So by (
2), we have
for all
which further implies that
for all
. Given that
belongs to the set
letting
n approach infinity in the equation yields
which implies that
by the condition (
). Now condition (
) guarantees the existence of
and
such that
Assuming
let
Based on the definition of the limit, there is an
such that
for all
This compels that
for all
Then
for all
where
Considering the case where
let
be an arbitrary positive number. Invoking the definition of the limit, there exists
such that
for all
This leads to the conclusion that
for all
where
Hence, across all possibilities, there exist
and
such that
for all
Hence, by (
8) and (
13), we obtain
By setting
n as infinity in the preceding inequality, we establish that
Hence, there exists
such that
for all
Now by (
15) for
we have
Let
be fixed and
be such that (
) is satisfied. By (
), there exists
such that
for
Using (
), (
15) and (
17), we obtain
implies
By virtue of (
), this implies that
It establishes that {
} is
-Cauchy. Since
is
-complete and
is closed, there exists
such that
is
-convergent to
, i.e.,
Otherwise,
is continuous. Then, we obtain
as
Using the continuity of
d, we obtain
as
Therefore,
. □
Theorem 6. Let be a complete -metric space and , such that . Let and Suppose that is an -proximal contraction. Let it satisfy the following conditions:
(i) is α-proximal admissible mapping;
(ii) and satisfies the property P;
(iii) There exists such that (iv) If such that for all n and as , then there exists of such that for all k.
Then there exists such that
Proof. In support of the findings in Theorem 5, there exists a sequence
such that the inequality (
2) is satisfied and
as
i.e.,
From condition (iii), there exists
of
such that
for all
We affirm that
as
So by (
2), we obtain
since
which implies by (
), we have
Taking
and using the continuity of
d, we have
as
Therefore,
which completes the proof of the theorem. □
Definition 10. Let and . The mapping is said to be -regular if for all , there exists such that Theorem 7. Assuming that is -regular along with the conditions of Theorem 5 (respectively, Theorem 6), we can deduce the existence of a unique element satisfying the inequality
Proof. As established by Theorem 5, the set of best proximity points of
is nonempty, indicating the presence of a best proximity point
. Assuming another best proximity point
of
, i.e.,
Using the property P and (
19), we obtain that
We explore two potential cases.
Case 1. Assuming
and utilizing the Equation (
19), we deduce that
since
which implies by (
) that
a contradiction. Thus,
Case 2. If
By supposition, there exists
such that
and
. Since
, there exists
such that
As
is
-proximal admissible, we have
. Hence
Following this approach, we can iteratively construct a sequence
in
such that
for all
As a consequence of property P and (
21), it can be inferred that
for all
Since
is
-proximal contraction, we have
for all
Thus, we have
Taking the limit as
in (
23), we have
then by (
), we have
which implies that
whenever
. Thus {
Therefore, in each of the analyzed scenarios, the sequence {
as
. Similarly, we can demonstrate that {
as
. Due to the uniqueness of the limit, we conclude that
. □
We now present an example that serves to demonstrate the applicability and validity of our findings.
Example 2. Let = and be defined by Then, ( ,d) is an -complete -metric space. Consider the two closed subsets of as and The compactness of is established, implying its approximate compactness relative to . Define as Evidently, and Clearly, we have that Now we define by Suppose that belong to , where Thus, and Define by Then Nowfor Hence, is an -proximal contraction. Now, we show that is α-proximal admissible. Suppose that belong to such that Then, we have Henceand Hence, which shows that is α-proximal admissible. It is evident that there exists . In this way, and Assume that such that for all n and as . Hence, Since is closed, thus, we obtain and hence, for all Having established that all conditions of Theorems 5 and 6 are met, it follows that possesses at least one best proximity point. This point, denoted by 0, satisfies Remark 1. In Theorems 5 and 6.
(i) If we define by for all and the function by then we arrive at the same key conclusions as Basha et al. [6] for -metric spaces. (ii) If we consider and by we obtain the main outcome of Jleli et al. [5]. (iii) If we take for and in Definition 4, our analysis replicates a result established by Hussain et al. [21]. 4. Consequences
Corollary 1. Let be an -complete -metric space, , such that . Let Suppose that , meeting the following requirements:
(i) and satisfies the property P;
(ii) impliesfor all Then, there exists such that
Proof. Define
by
for all
Evidently
is
-proximal admissible by the definition of
, and additionally, it must be an
-proximal contraction. On the other hand, for any
, since
, there exists
such that
. Furthermore, from the hypothesis (ii), we obtain
which implies by (
) that
The preceding inequality implies the continuity of
. Consequently, all the prerequisites of Theorem 5 are met, guaranteeing the existence of the best proximity point of
. Furthermore, based on Theorem
4 and the definition of the function
, we can establish the uniqueness of this best proximity point. □
If we take , for in Theorem 1, we establish this result.
Corollary 2. Let be a complete -metric space, , such that . Let Assume that , satisfying these assertions:
(i) and satisfies the property P;
(ii) There exists such that for all
Then there exists such that
Now we establish proximity results in -metric spaces endowed with binary relation.
Given the
-metric space
and the binary relation
R over
, let
Evidently,
Definition 11. A mapping is called a proximal comparative mapping iffor all Corollary 3. Let be a complete -metric space, , such that . Let R be a binary relation over . Assume that is continuous, satisfying these assertions:
(i) and satisfies the P property;
(ii) is a proximal comparative mapping;
(iii) There exists such that (iv) There exists Ψ such that Then there exists such that
Proof. Define
by:
Suppose that
for some
. By the definition of
, we obtain that
Invoking supposition (ii), we deduce that
. Applying the definition of
, we find that
Therefore, we demonstrated that
is
-proximal admissible. Supposition (iii) leads to the conclusion
and
. In conclusion, condition (iv) entails that
Being an ( )-proximal contraction, fulfills all the requirements of Theorem 5, and hence, the required result is directly obtainable from the theorem. □
To forego the assumption of ’s continuity, we employ another assumption.
Corollary 4. Let , where is a complete -metric space such that . Given a binary relation over a set , let be a mapping that fulfills the following conditions:
(i) and satisfies the property P;
(ii) is a proximal comparative mapping,
(iii) There exists such that (iv) There exist the function Ψ and the constant such that (v) If in and are such that for all and then there exists of such that for all k.
Then there exists such that
Proof. If we consider
given by
Furthermore, noting that assertion (v) entails condition (J), we can apply Theorem 6 to arrive at the desired conclusion. □
Theorem 8. In addition to the hypotheses of Corollary 3 (resp. Corollary 4), suppose that the following conditions hold: for any pair such that , there exists an element satisfying and . Under these conditions, possesses a unique best proximity point.
5. Application
Let
be the set of all continuous functions defined on the closed interval
and
be an
-metric defined by
then the pair (
) embodies an
-complete
-metric space (see [
13]).
Problem 1. A particle with mass m is initially stationary at and A force g begins acting on it in the X direction, causing its velocity to instantaneously increase from 0 to 1 immediately after . Determine the particle’s position at time t:where g is a continuous function from the rectangle to . The green function connected with (26) is defined by Let be a function. We will proceed under the assumption that the following are true:
(i) for all with
(ii) There exists such that for all where
(iii) implies , for all and
(iv) If is a sequence in such that in and for all then for all
Theorem 9. Assume that the conditions (i)–(iv) hold, then (26) has a solution in Proof. It is a well-established fact that the existence of a solution
to (
26) is equivalent to the existence of a solution
to the integral equation
for all
Consider
to be a function defined by
Let
in a manner that
for all
In accordance with (i), we obtain
Since
for all
then
Then from the above inequality, we have
Taking the exponential on both sides, we have
for all
Now we consider a function
by
Also, define
by
Then, from (
27) and the definition of the
-metric
d, we have
with
Now from (ii), there exists
to ensure that
implies that
for
Subsequently, for the functions
with
we have
which implies by (iii) that
It yields
and therefore,
is deemed
-admissible. According to Theorem 5, that
admits a fixed point
within the space
which consequently serves as the solution to (
26). □
Application to Fractional Calculus
Consider the set
comprising all continuous functions defined on the closed interval
Then,
constitutes an
-metric space with an
-metric defined by (
25). To demonstrate the applicability of our fixed point theorem, we shall consider a nonlinear differential equation of fractional order
along with the integral boundary conditions
where
represents the Caputo fractional derivative of order
for a continuous function
given as
and
is a continuous function, and Green’s function linked with Problem (
28) is defined by
Let us assume that the following conditions are satisfied:
(i) for all with
(ii) There exists
such that
for all
where
is defined by
(iii) implies , for all and
(iv) If is a sequence in such that in and for all then for all
Theorem 10. Subject to conditions (i)–(iv), the differential Equation (28) possesses a solution within the function space Proof. The equivalence between the existence of a solution
to (
28) and the existence of a solution
to the integral equation is a cornerstone of functional analysis
for all
Let
such that
for all
By (i), we have
Since
for all
then
Then from the above inequality, we have
Taking the exponential on both sides, we have
for all
Now we consider a function
by
Also define
by
Then from (
29) and the definition of the
-metric
d, we have
Now from (ii), there exists
such that
implies that
for
Next for any
with
we have
which implies by (iii) that
Since
satisfies the conditions for
-admissibility (Theorem 5), it has a fixed point
in
, which is also the solution of (
28). □
6. Conclusions
In this paper, we proposed the notion of an -proximal contraction within the framework of -metric space and obtained the existence and uniqueness of the best proximity points for such contractions. To demonstrate the practicality of our results, we presented a non-trivial example. With the goal of further enhancing the appeal of this research direction, we extended our results to novel applications of fractional calculus and also to the equation of motion modeling differential equations.
The outcomes of this investigation can be generalized to encompass the best proximity points of multivalued mappings in the framework of -metric spaces. Moreover, the existence of common and coupled best proximity points for both self-mappings and non-self-mappings can be demonstrated within this framework. The application of our established results to solving fractional differential equations and ordinary differential equations provides an avenue for future exploration. Additionally, the applicability of our results in the context of -bipolar metric spaces constitutes another potential direction for future development in this field.