Abstract. Suppose that V and B are vector spaces over Q, R or C and α 0 , β 0 , . . . , αm, βm are scalar such thatthen each f k is a "generalized" polynomial map of "degree" at most m − 1.In case V = R n and B = C we show that if some f k is bounded on a set of positive inner Lebesgue measure, then it is a genuine polynomial function.Our main aim is to establish the stability of ( * ) (in the sense of Ulam) in case B is a Banach space.We also solve a distributional analogue of ( * ) and prove a mean value theorem concerning harmonic functions in two real variables.
Blanket assumptionsThroughout this paper F = Q, R or C, V and B are vector spaces over F, m ∈ N, and α 0 , β 0 , . . . , α m , β m are given members of F. Our aim is to study the functional equationwhere the functions f k : V → B may be thought of as the unknowns. The stability of ( * ) (in the sense of Ulam) is of principal interest.Background results