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Algebra Difficulty 7.4 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it South Korea

Find all functions f:RRf : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} such that for all x,yRx, y \in \mathbb{R}
f(x2015+f(y)2015)=f(x)2015+y2015. f(x^{2015} + f(y)^{2015}) = f(x)^{2015} + y^{2015}.

Solution

Put x=0x = 0 in the given equation
f(x2015+f(y)2015)=f(x)2015+y2015.(1) f(x^{2015} + f(y)^{2015}) = f(x)^{2015} + y^{2015}. \qquad (1)
Then, we have
f(f(y))2015=f(0)2015+y2015.(2) f(f(y))^{2015} = f(0)^{2015} + y^{2015}. \qquad (2)
It implies that ff is a bijective function. By putting f(x)f(x) to xx in (1), we have
f(f(x))2015+f(y)2015=f(f(x))2015+y2015(3) f(f(x))^{2015} + f(y)^{2015} = f(f(x))^{2015} + y^{2015} \qquad (3)
and by putting f(y)f(y) to yy in (1),
f(x2015+f(f(y))2015)=f(x)2015+f(y)2015.(4) f(x^{2015} + f(f(y))^{2015}) = f(x)^{2015} + f(y)^{2015}. \qquad (4)
In (3), we swipe xx and yy first and then take ff on both sides, then we have
f(f(f(x))2015+f(y)2015))=f(x2015+f(f(y))2015)=f(x)2015+f(y)2015. f(f(f(x))^{2015} + f(y)^{2015})) = f(x^{2015} + f(f(y))^{2015}) = f(x)^{2015} + f(y)^{2015}.
Since ff is bijective, we have
f(f(x))=x.(5) f(f(x)) = x. \tag{5}
By (2), (3), and (5), we have
(f(f(x))2015+f(y)2015)=x2015+y2015=f(f(x)2015)+f(f(y)2015)2f(0)2015 (f(f(x))^{2015} + f(y)^{2015}) = x^{2015} + y^{2015} = f(f(x)^{2015}) + f(f(y)^{2015}) - 2f(0)^{2015}
and, since ff is bijective, f(x+y)=f(x)+f(y)2f(0)2015f(x + y) = f(x) + f(y) - 2f(0)^{2015}. Here, by putting x=y=0x = y = 0, we have f(0)=2f(0)2015f(0) = 2f(0)^{2015}. Hence f(0)f(0) is 00 or ±(12)12014\pm(\frac{1}{2})^{\frac{1}{2014}}. By putting f(y)f(y) to yy in (2), we get f(y2015)=f(0)2015+f(y)2015f(y^{2015}) = f(0)^{2015} + f(y)^{2015}.
Consider an equation x2015x+f(0)2015x^{2015} - x + f(0)^{2015}. It must have three different real roots f(1)f(-1), f(0)f(0) and f(1)f(1). However, if f(0)=±(12)12014f(0) = \pm(\frac{1}{2})^{\frac{1}{2014}}, this equation does not have three different real roots. Therefore, f(0)=0f(0) = 0 and f(1)f(1) is either 11 or 1-1.
Now we have f(x+y)=f(x)+f(y)f(x + y) = f(x) + f(y) and f(y2015)=f(y)2015f(y^{2015}) = f(y)^{2015}, and f(1)f(1) is either 11 or 1-1. We will prove that only f(x)=xf(x) = x and f(x)=xf(x) = -x satisfy these three conditions. If f(1)=1f(1) = -1, then we may consider g(x)=f(x)g(x) = -f(x). It allows us to consider only the case where f(1)=1f(1) = 1. By the general Cauchy method, we have f(x)=xf(x) = x for all xQx \in \mathbb{Q}.
Now we need to extend this function to real numbers. To do that, we will prove that f(x2)=f(x)2f(x^2) = f(x)^2.
Let (2015k)f(xk)f(x)k=x2015k\binom{2015}{k}f(x^k) - f(x)^k = x_{2015-k} for k=0,1,2,,2015k = 0, 1, 2, \dots, 2015. Then, for any integer mm, by calculating f((x+m)2015)=(f(x)+f(m))2015f((x+m)^{2015}) = (f(x)+f(m))^{2015}, we have
i=02015mixi=0. \sum_{i=0}^{2015} m^i x_i = 0.
Now we think of it as a system of infinite number of equations.
Claim. The system has a unique solution (x0,x1,,x2015)=(0,0,,0)(x_0, x_1, \dots, x_{2015}) = (0, 0, \dots, 0).
*Proof.* Suppose there is another solution (y0,y1,,y2015)=(0,0,,0)(y_0, y_1, \dots, y_{2015}) = (0, 0, \dots, 0). Let ss be the maximum index with ys0y_s \neq 0. By multiplying 1ys\frac{1}{y_s}, we may assume that ys=1y_s = 1. Set mm as a number bigger than y0+y1++y2015|y_0| + |y_1| + \dots + |y_{2015}|. Then,
0=i=02015miyi=i=0smiyi>msysi=0s1miyimsms1yi>0 0 = \sum_{i=0}^{2015} m^i y_i = \sum_{i=0}^{s} m^i y_i > m^s y_s - \sum_{i=0}^{s-1} m^i |y_i| \geq m^s - m^{s-1} \sum |y_i| > 0
which yields a contradiction. Therefore it has a unique solution (0,0,,0)(0, 0, \dots, 0). \square

The above claim says that f(xk)=f(x)kf(x^k) = f(x)^k for k=0,1,2,,2015k = 0, 1, 2, \dots, 2015. Especially, f(x2)=f(x)20f(x^2) = f(x)^2 \ge 0. Now, for every x>yx > y, we have f(x)f(y)=f(xy)=f(xy2)0f(x) - f(y) = f(x - y) = f(\sqrt{x - y}^2) \ge 0, so ff is increasing. Therefore, f(x)=xf(x) = x, and the candidates of the original problem are f(x)=xf(x) = x and f(x)=xf(x) = -x. Indeed, one can check that they are real solutions of the problem by substituting.

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