AlgebraDifficulty 7.4National Olympiad, round 2Prove itSouth Africa
Find all functions f:Z→Z such that f(a3)+f(b3)+f(c3)+3f(a+b)f(b+c)f(c+a)=(f(a+b+c))3 for all a,b,c∈Z.
Solution
Suppose f satisfies the condition. By taking (a,b,c)=(0,0,0), we get 3f(0)+3f(0)3=f(0)3, so that either f(0)=0, or 3=−2f(0)2. The latter is not possible in Z, so we must have f(0)=0. By taking (a,b,c)=(n,−n,0), we get f(n3)+f(−n3)=0, resulting in f(−n3)=−f(n3) for all n∈Z.(1) By taking (a,b,c)=(n,0,0), we get f(n3)=f(n)3 for all n∈Z.(2) By combining (1) and (2), we see that, for any n∈Z, f(−n)3=f((−n)3)=f(−n3)=−f(n3)=−f(n)3=(−f(n))3, so that f(−n)=−f(n), i.e., f is an odd function. Now take (a,b,c)=(k,1−k,0), so that f(k)3+f(1−k)3+3f(k)f(1−k)f(1)=f(1)3 for all k∈Z.(3) Also, from (2), f(1)=f(1)3, so that f(1)∈{−1,0,1}. First, if f(1)=0, then from (3), f(k)=−f(1−k)=f(k−1) for all k∈Z, so that f(n)=0 for all n∈Z (using induction and the fact that f is odd). Second, if f(1)=1, then from (3), f(k)3+f(1−k)3+3f(k)f(1−k)=1, for all k∈Z, i.e., the Diophantine equation X3+Y3+3XY=1 is satisfied by (X,Y)=(f(k),f(1−k)). This equation can be rewritten as (X+Y−1)(X2−XY+Y2+X+Y+1)=0. Note that X2−XY+Y2+X+Y+1=0 is only solvable in Z if X=Y=−1 (otherwise the discriminant is negative when considered as a quadratic in X). So there are two options here:
1. f(k)=1−f(1−k)=1+f(k−1) for all k∈Z. Then it follows immediately by induction and the fact that f is odd that f(n)=n for all n∈Z. 2. There is some k0∈Z such that f(k0)=f(1−k0)=−1. Then f(−k0)=1=1−f(1+k0) implies that f(1+k0)=0. Hence, by using (a,b,c)=(1+k0,1−k0,−1) in the functional equation, we get that 0−1−1+3f(2)(−1)(1)=1, so that f(2)=−1. Thus k0=2 is the smallest positive value of k0 with the property that f(k0)=−1=f(1−k0). We have therefore established the base case of the proof by induction that (f(3k),f(3k+1),f(3k+2))=(0,1,−1) for all k≥0. Assume now that this statement is true for some k≥0. Then, from f(−3k−2)=1=1−f(1+3k+2), we find that f(3+3k)=f(3(k+1))=0. Using (a,b,c)=(3k,1,3) in the functional equation (and recalling that f(3)=f(1+2)=f(1+k0)=0), we get 0+1+0+3(0)(1)(0)=f(3k+4)3, so that f(3k+4)=f(3(k+1)+1)=1. Similarly, with (a,b,c)=(3k,2,3), we see that f(3k+5)=f(3(k+1)+2)=−1, and the induction is complete. It follows now from the fact that f is odd that (f(3k),f(3k+1),f(3k+2))=(0,1,−1) for all k∈Z, i.e., f(n)=⎩⎨⎧01−1if n≡0(mod3)if n≡1(mod3),if n≡2(mod3)for all n∈Z.(4) Finally, the observation that whenever f satisfies the equation then −f also satisfies the equation, takes care of the case f(1)=−1. It is straightforward to check that the three functions f(n)=0, f(n)=n and f(n)=−n (for all n∈Z) satisfy the given functional equation. The function (4) requires a little more effort (and time) to check, but offers no difficulty. Its negative then follows automatically. We conclude that there are five functions that solve the equation, as described above.
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