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Exercise 1525Calculus › Single-variable calculus › Differentiation › Taylor expansionsL2Added 3 Nov 2026

Expanding the inverse of x + x³

#Taylor expansion#inverse function#fixed point iteration

Statement

The function f(x)=x+x3f(x)=x+x^3 is a bijection of R\mathbb{R} onto itself. Let g=f−1g=f^{-1}. Find the expansion of g(y)g(y) at 00 up to order 55.

Hint

gg is odd and satisfies g(y)+g(y)3=yg(y)+g(y)^3=y, i.e. g(y)=y−g(y)3g(y)=y-g(y)^3. Start from g(y)=y+o(y)g(y)=y+o(y) and substitute repeatedly.

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Solution

Setup. gg is differentiable with g′(y)=11+3g(y)2g'(y)=\frac1{1+3g(y)^2}, and it is infinitely differentiable, so it has expansions to any order. Also g(y)=y+o(y)g(y)=y+o(y) because g′(0)=1g'(0)=1.

Step 1. From g(y)=y−g(y)3g(y)=y-g(y)^3 and g(y)=y+o(y)g(y)=y+o(y):
g(y)=y−y3+o(y3).g(y)=y-y^3+o(y^3).

Step 2. Cube it: g3=(y−y3+o(y3))3=y3−3y5+o(y5)g^3=\left(y-y^3+o(y^3)\right)^3=y^3-3y^5+o(y^5). Hence
g(y)=y−(y3−3y5)+o(y5)=y−y3+3y5+o(y5).g(y)=y-\left(y^3-3y^5\right)+o(y^5)=y-y^3+3y^5+o(y^5).

Check. With y=0.1y=0.1: y−y3+3y5=0.099 03y-y^3+3y^5=0.099\,03 and f(0.099 03)=0.099 03+0.000 971≈0.100 00f(0.099\,03)=0.099\,03+0.000\,971\approx0.100\,00 ✓.

Remark. Each substitution gains two orders of accuracy, because g3g^3 is O(y3)O(y^3). This bootstrap method works for any equation of the form x=y+ε(x)x=y+\varepsilon(x).