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Algebra Difficulty 5.7 AIME, harder Prove it Bulgaria

Find all functions f:Q+R+f : \mathbb{Q}^+ \to \mathbb{R}^+ such that
f(xy)=f(x+y)(f(x)+f(y)), for any x,yQ+. f(xy) = f(x + y)(f(x) + f(y)), \text{ for any } x, y \in \mathbb{Q}^{+}.

Solution

If g(x)=1/f(x)g(x) = 1/f(x) then g:Q+R+g : \mathbb{Q}^+ \to \mathbb{R}^+ and the given equation becomes
()g(x+y)g(x)g(y)=g(xy)(g(x)+g(y)). (*) \quad g(x+y)g(x)g(y) = g(xy)(g(x) + g(y)).
Let f(1)=c>0f(1) = c > 0 i.e. g(1)=1cg(1) = \frac{1}{c}. From (*) we get g(x+1)=cg(x)+1g(x+1) = c g(x) + 1 and hence g(2)=2g(2) = 2, g(3)=2c+1g(3) = 2c+1, g(4)=2c2+c+1g(4) = 2c^2+c+1, g(5)=2c3+c2+c+1g(5) = 2c^3+c^2+c+1, g(6)=2c4+c3+c2+c+1g(6) = 2c^4+c^3+c^2+c+1. On the other hand setting x=2x=2, y=3y=3 in (*) leads us to
g(5)g(2)g(3)=g(6)(g(2)+g(3)), g(5)g(2)g(3) = g(6)(g(2) + g(3)),
which implies
4c53c3c2c+1=0(c1)(c+1)(2c1)(2c2+2c+1)=0. 4c^5 - 3c^3 - c^2 - c + 1 = 0 \Leftrightarrow (c-1)(c+1)(2c-1)(2c^2+2c+1) = 0.
If c=1c=1 then g(x+1)=g(x)+1g(x+1) = g(x)+1. By induction g(n)=ng(n) = n for any nNn \in \mathbb{N} and moreover g(x+n)=g(x)+ng(x+n) = g(x)+n for any xQ+x \in \mathbb{Q}^+ and nNn \in \mathbb{N}.
By setting y=ny=n in (*) we obtain
(g(x)+n)g(x)n=g(nx)(g(x)+n), (g(x) + n)g(x)n = g(nx)(g(x) + n),
i.e. g(nx)=ng(x)g(nx) = n g(x). Setting x=p/qx=p/q and n=qn=q, where p,qNp, q \in \mathbb{N} we obtain g(x)=xg(x) = x, for any xQ+x \in \mathbb{Q}^+, i.e. f(x)=1/xf(x) = 1/x, for any xQ+x \in \mathbb{Q}^+.

If c=12c = \frac{1}{2} then g(x+1)=12g(x)+1g(x+1) = \frac{1}{2}g(x) + 1. Hence
g(n)=2andg(x+n)2=g(x)22n,xQ+,nN; g(n) = 2 \quad \text{and} \quad g(x+n) - 2 = \frac{g(x) - 2}{2^n}, \quad x \in \mathbb{Q}^{+}, n \in \mathbb{N};
Setting y=ny = n in ()(*) we obtain
2g(x+n)g(x)=g(nx)(g(x)+2), 2g(x+n)g(x) = g(nx)(g(x) + 2),
and it's sufficient to see that these equations imply g(x)=2g(x) = 2, for any xQ+x \in \mathbb{Q}^{+}, i.e. f1/2f \equiv 1/2.
Finally, the only functions satisfying the given equality are f12f \equiv \frac{1}{2} and f1xf \equiv \frac{1}{x}.

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