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Iranian Mathematical Olympiad

Algebra Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Iran

Find all functions f:R→Rf : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} such that for all real numbers xx and yy
f(y−f(x))=f(x)−2x+f(f(y)). f(y - f(x)) = f(x) - 2x + f(f(y)).

Solution

1. Plugging y=x+f(x)y = x + f(x) to obtain f(f(x+f(x)))=2xf(f(x + f(x))) = 2x. Hence, the function is surjective and there is a real number rr such that f(r)=0f(r) = 0. Plug x=rx = r to obtain
f(y)=−2r+f(f(y)). f(y) = -2r + f(f(y)).
For each real number zz there is a real number yy such that f(y)=zf(y) = z, therefore
z=−2r+f(z). It follows thatz = -2r + f(z). \text{ It follows that}
f(z)=z+2r,z∈R. f(z) = z + 2r, \quad z \in \mathbb{R}.
By plugging this into the original equation one can conclude that r=0r = 0 and f(z)=zf(z) = z, for all real numbers zz.

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