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Algebra Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

Find all functions f:RRf: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} satisfying the equality
f(f(x)+f(y))=(x+y)f(x+y) f(f(x) + f(y)) = (x + y)f(x + y)
for all real xx and yy.

Solution

Answer: f(x)=0f(x) = 0 for all xRx \in \mathbb{R}.
Consider several preliminary substitutions to the problem condition
f(f(x)+f(y))=(x+y)f(x+y).(1) f(f(x) + f(y)) = (x + y)f(x + y). \qquad (1)
Substitution x=y=0x = y = 0 gives the equality f(2f(0))=0f(2f(0)) = 0. Substitution x=2f(0)x = 2f(0), y=0y = 0 gives f(f(0))=0f(f(0)) = 0. Finally, substitution x=y=f(0)x = y = f(0) gives f(0)=0f(0) = 0.
Substitution y=0y = 0 to (1) implies that for all xRx \in \mathbb{R} holds f(f(x))=xf(x)f(f(x)) = xf(x). Suppose that for some a,bRa, b \in \mathbb{R} holds f(a)=f(b)0f(a) = f(b) \ne 0, then af(a)=f(f(a))=f(f(b))=bf(b)af(a) = f(f(a)) = f(f(b)) = bf(b), whence a=ba = b. Therefore ff can attend several times only zero.
We will show that there exists c0c \ne 0 such that f(c)=0f(c) = 0. Substitution y=1xy = 1-x to (1) implies f(f(x)+f(1x))=f(1)f(f(x)+f(1-x)) = f(1). If f(1)=0f(1) = 0, then c=1c = 1. Otherwise, f(x)+f(1x)=1f(x)+f(1-x) = 1 for all xRx \in \mathbb{R}. Substitutions of x=0x = 0 and x=1/2x = 1/2 in the latter equation give f(1)=1f(1) = 1 and f(1/2)=1/2f(1/2) = 1/2. Finally for x=1x = 1 and y=1/2y = 1/2 the equality (1) gives f(3/2)=3/2f(3/2)f(3/2) = 3/2f(3/2), whence f(3/2)=0f(3/2) = 0.
Denote by cc an arbitrary nonzero number such that f(c)=0f(c) = 0. Substitution x=y=cx = y = c to (1) implies f(2c)=0f(2c) = 0. Suppose that there exist a real number tt such that f(t)0f(t) \ne 0. Putting to (1) successively x=cx = c, y=c+ty = -c + t and x=2cx = 2c, y=2c+ty = -2c + t, we obtain
f(f(c+t))=tf(t)=f(f(2c+t)), where tf(t)0. f(f(-c + t)) = tf(t) = f(f(-2c + t)), \text{ where } tf(t) \ne 0.
Therefore, f(c+t)=f(2c+t)0f(-c+t) = f(-2c+t) \ne 0, whence c+t=2c+t-c+t = -2c+t, which contradicts c0c \ne 0. Consequently such tt doesn't exist and f(x)=0f(x) = 0 for all xRx \in \mathbb{R}.

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