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Algebra Difficulty 6.4 National olympiad Prove it Estonia

Determine all functions f:RRf : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} which satisfy the inequality f(x)+f(x+y)f(xy)+f(y)f(x) + f(x+y) \le f(xy) + f(y) for all real numbers x,yx, y.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Answer: All constant functions f(x)=cf(x) = c where cc is arbitrary real number.

Denote the given inequality by V(x,y)V(x,y). Then V(x,0)V(x,0) together with simplification gives
f(x)f(0)(3) f(x) \le f(0) \qquad (3)
for every real number xx. On the other hand, adding V(x,y)V(x,y) and V(y,x)V(y,x) gives f(x+y)f(xy)f(x+y) \le f(xy), where taking y=xy = -x leads to f(0)f(x2)f(0) \le f(-x^2). Along with (3) this implies that
f(z)=f(0)(4) f(z) = f(0) \qquad (4)
for any non-positive real number zz. Now V(z,1)V(z, -1) with non-positive zz, simplified by (4), gives f(0)f(z)f(0) \le f(-z). The latter along with (3) implies f(x)=f(0)f(x) = f(0) for all positive real numbers xx.
Thus f(x)=f(0)f(x) = f(0) for every real number xx, i.e., ff is a constant function. All constant functions clearly satisfy the conditions of the problem.

Solution 2

Denote the given inequality by V(x,y)V(x,y).
Firstly, note that V(x,1)V(x, 1) along with simplification leads to f(x+1)f(1)f(x+1) \le f(1). As x+1x+1 takes all real values, the function ff obtains its maximum value at 1. Secondly, note that V(1,y)V(1, y) leads to f(1)+f(y+1)2f(y)f(1) + f(y+1) \le 2f(y). Along with the inequality f(y)f(1)f(y) \le f(1) obtained above, this implies f(y+1)f(y)f(y+1) \le f(y)
for all real numbers yy. By applying the latter inequality to both y=0y = 0 and y=1y = 1 and taking into account that f(1)f(1) is the maximum value of ff, one gets f(1)=f(0)=f(1)f(1) = f(0) = f(-1).
Thirdly, note that V(1,y)V(-1, y) gives f(1)+f(y1)f(y)+f(y)f(-1) + f(y - 1) \le f(-y) + f(y). As f(y)f(y1)f(y) \le f(y - 1) by the above, the inequality f(1)f(y)f(-1) \le f(-y) must hold for every real number yy. Since y-y obtains all real values, the function ff obtains its minimum value at 1-1. As f(1)=f(1)f(1) = f(-1), the maximum and minimum value coincide which means that ff is a constant function.

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