Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /9 of 36

, 2023

Algebra Difficulty 8.0 Shortlist Prove it Baltic Way

Let D:=R{0,1}D := \mathbb{R} \setminus \{0,1\}. Find all functions f:DDf:D \rightarrow D which satisfy for any x,yRx, y \in \mathbb{R} with x,xyDx, xy \in D the equation
f(f(xy))=11yf(f(f(x))) f(f(xy)) = 1 - \frac{1}{y f(f(f(x)))}

Solution

Plugging in y=axy = \frac{a}{x} for a,xDa, x \in D gives
f(f(a))=1xaf(f(f(x))). f(f(a)) = 1 - \frac{x}{a f(f(f(x)))}.
On the other hand, y=1y = 1 and x=ax = a gives for aDa \in D
f(f(a))=11f(f(f(a))). f(f(a)) = 1 - \frac{1}{f(f(f(a)))}.
from which we conclude xf(f(f(x)))\frac{x}{f(f(f(x)))} is constant for all xDx \in D. Thus it follows f(f(f(x)))=Cxf(f(f(x))) = Cx for some constant C0C \neq 0. Plugging this into the second equation gives f(f(x))=11Cxf(f(x)) = 1 - \frac{1}{Cx}. Replace here xx with f(x)f(x). This is allowed, since f(x)Df(x) \in D follows from the definition of ff. Thus
Cx=f(f(f(x)))=11Cf(x), i.e. f(x)=1C(1Cx). Cx = f(f(f(x))) = 1 - \frac{1}{Cf(x)}, \text{ i.e. } f(x) = \frac{1}{C(1 - Cx)}.

So we get f(x)=11xf(x) = \frac{1}{1-x} for all xDx \in D, which clearly solves the given functional equation, so we are done.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.