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Algebra Difficulty 6.9 National olympiad Prove it Romania

Let f:[0,)[0,)f : [0, \infty) \to [0, \infty) be a continuous bijective function, such that
limxf1(f(x)/x)x=1. \lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{f^{-1}(f(x)/x)}{x} = 1.

a) Show that limxf(x)x=\lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{f(x)}{x} = \infty and limxf1(ax)f1(x)=1\lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{f^{-1}(ax)}{f^{-1}(x)} = 1, for any a>0a > 0.

b) Give an example of a function ff that satisfies the conditions from the statement.

Solution

a) Since ff is continuous and bijective, we deduce that f(0)=0f(0) = 0 and ff is increasing, with limxf(x)=\lim_{x \to \infty} f(x) = \infty. Then f1:[0,)[0,)f^{-1} : [0, \infty) \to [0, \infty) is also increasing, with f1(0)=0f^{-1}(0) = 0 and limxf1(x)=\lim_{x \to \infty} f^{-1}(x) = \infty. The limit from the hypothesis ensures the existence of a number u>0u > 0 such that f1(f(x)/x)x>12\frac{f^{-1}(f(x)/x)}{x} > \frac{1}{2}, for any x>ux > u. Therefore, f(x)x>f(x2)\frac{f(x)}{x} > f(\frac{x}{2}), for any x>ux > u. Since limxf(x2)=\lim_{x \to \infty} f(\frac{x}{2}) = \infty, we obtain limxf(x)x=\lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{f(x)}{x} = \infty. Let a>0a > 0 be an arbitrary fixed number.

The case a(0,1)a \in (0, 1). There is t>0t > 0 such that f1(x)>1af^{-1}(x) > \frac{1}{a}, for any x>tx > t. Hence
f1(x)>f1(ax)=f1(af(f1(x)))>f1(f(f1(x))f1(x)), for any x>t. f^{-1}(x) > f^{-1}(ax) = f^{-1}(af(f^{-1}(x))) > f^{-1}\left(\frac{f(f^{-1}(x))}{f^{-1}(x)}\right), \text{ for any } x > t.
We obtain
f1(f(f1(x))/f1(x))f1(x)<f1(ax)f1(x)<1, for any x>t. \frac{f^{-1}(f(f^{-1}(x))/f^{-1}(x))}{f^{-1}(x)} < \frac{f^{-1}(ax)}{f^{-1}(x)} < 1, \text{ for any } x > t.
From the assumption and the condition limxf1(x)=\lim_{x \to \infty} f^{-1}(x) = \infty, we get
limxf1(f(f1(x))/f1(x))f1(x)=y=f1(x)limyf1(f(y)/y)y=1. \lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{f^{-1}(f(f^{-1}(x))/f^{-1}(x))}{f^{-1}(x)} \underset{y=f^{-1}(x)}{=} \lim_{y \to \infty} \frac{f^{-1}(f(y)/y)}{y} = 1.
The case a=1a = 1 is clear.

The sandwich theorem ensures limxf1(ax)f1(x)=1\lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{f^{-1}(ax)}{f^{-1}(x)} = 1.

The case a(1,)a \in (1, \infty). Then b=1/a(0,1)b = 1/a \in (0, 1). From the previous case, we have
limxf1(ax)f1(x)=limx(f1(x)f1(ax))1=limx(f1(b(ax))f1(ax))1=11=1. \lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{f^{-1}(ax)}{f^{-1}(x)} = \lim_{x \to \infty} \left( \frac{f^{-1}(x)}{f^{-1}(ax)} \right)^{-1} = \lim_{x \to \infty} \left( \frac{f^{-1}(b(ax))}{f^{-1}(ax)} \right)^{-1} = 1^{-1} = 1.
In conclusion, limxf1(ax)f1(x)=1\lim_{x \to \infty} \frac{f^{-1}(ax)}{f^{-1}(x)} = 1, for any a>0a > 0.

b) Example. The bijective function f:[0,)[0,)f : [0, \infty) \to [0, \infty), f(x)=ex1f(x) = e^x - 1, with the inverse f1:[0,)[0,)f^{-1} : [0, \infty) \to [0, \infty), f1(x)=ln(x+1)f^{-1}(x) = \ln(x + 1), satisfies the conditions from the statement.

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