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Baltic Way Shortlist, 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:D→Df:D \rightarrow D which satisfy for any x,y∈Rx, y \in \mathbb{R} with x,xy∈Dx, xy \in D the equation
f(f(xy))=1−1yf(f(f(x))) f(f(xy)) = 1 - \frac{1}{y f(f(f(x)))}

Solution

Plugging in y=axy = \frac{a}{x} for a,x∈Da, x \in D gives
f(f(a))=1−xaf(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 a∈Da \in D
f(f(a))=1−1f(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 x∈Dx \in D. Thus it follows f(f(f(x)))=Cxf(f(f(x))) = Cx for some constant C≠0C \neq 0. Plugging this into the second equation gives f(f(x))=1−1Cxf(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)))=1−1Cf(x), i.e. f(x)=1C(1−Cx). 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)=11−xf(x) = \frac{1}{1-x} for all x∈Dx \in D, which clearly solves the given functional equation, so we are done.

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