Notes on the ordered set $A^A$. Part I. The classical problem

Abstract

Let $A$ and $B$ be finite ordered sets. We show that if the ordered sets of isotone self-maps $A^A$ and $B^B$ (ordered pointwise) are isomorphic, then $A$ and $B$ are isomorphic. This resolves a question originating with D. Duffus in 1978, with related results by D. Duffus--R. Wille in 1979 and J. Farley in 2023.