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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

Do there exist functions ff and gg, f:RRf: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}, g:RRg: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}, such that f(x+f(y))=y2+g(x)f(x + f(y)) = y^2 + g(x) for all real xx and yy?

Solution

Answer: there are no such functions.

Suppose that there exist functions f,gf, g satisfying the equality
f(x+f(y))=y2+g(x).() f(x + f(y)) = y^2 + g(x). \quad (*)
First, suppose that f(y)=f(z)f(y) = f(z) for some y,zRy, z \in \mathbb{R}. Then z2+g(x)=f(x+f(z))=f(x+f(y))=y2+g(x)z^2 + g(x) = f(x + f(z)) = f(x + f(y)) = y^2 + g(x), whence
z2=y2.(1) z^2 = y^2. \quad (1)
Now, f(x+f(y))=y2+g(x)=(y)2+g(x)=f(x+f(y))f(x+f(y)) = y^2 + g(x) = (-y)^2 + g(x) = f(x+f(-y)). Using (1), we get (x+f(y))2=(x+f(y))2(x+f(y))^2 = (x+f(-y))^2 for all x,yx, y. That is x+f(y)=xf(y)x+f(y) = -x-f(-y), or x+f(y)=x+f(y)x+f(y) = x+f(-y). Of these two equalities, the former is impossible since the equality 2x=f(y)f(y)2x = -f(-y) - f(y) implies that 2x2x is a constant which is not true. Hence
f(y)=f(y).(2) f(-y) = f(y). \qquad (2)
Set f(0)=af(0) = a. Putting y=0y = 0 in (*), we have
g(x)=f(x+a).(3) g(x) = f(x + a). \qquad (3)
Now,
f(x+f(y))=y2+f(x+a)=y2+f(xa)==y2+f((x2a)+a)=f(x2a+f(y)). \begin{aligned} f(x + f(y)) &= y^2 + f(x + a) = y^2 + f(-x - a) = \\ &= y^2 + f((-x - 2a) + a) = f(-x - 2a + f(y)). \end{aligned}
Hence from (1) it follows that
(x+f(y))2=(x2a+f(y))2(2f(y)2a)(2x+2a)=0 (x + f(y))^2 = (-x - 2a + f(y))^2 \Leftrightarrow (2f(y) - 2a)(2x + 2a) = 0
for all x,yRx, y \in \mathbb{R}, which implies f(y)=af(y) = a, and (3) gives g(x)=ag(x) = a. So, (*) becomes a=y2+aa = y^2 + a for all yRy \in \mathbb{R}, a contradiction. Therefore there are no such functions ff and gg.

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