Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /2 of 3

Algebra Difficulty 6.2 National olympiad Prove it Bulgaria

Find all functions f:RRf : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}, bounded in the interval (0,1)(0, 1) and such that
x2f(x)y2f(y)=(x2y2)f(x+y)xyf(xy) x^2 f(x) - y^2 f(y) = (x^2 - y^2) f(x + y) - xy f(x - y)
for all x,yRx, y \in \mathbb{R}.

Solution

Note that when x>y+1/2x > y + 1/2 run through the interval (0,n)(0, n) then x+yx + y runs through the interval (0,2n1/2)(0, 2n - 1/2). Straightforward induction shows that ff is bounded in all intervals (0,2k+1/2)(0, 2k + 1/2). When 0<x<y0 < x < y it follows that ff is also bounded in the intervals (2k,0)(-2k, 0). Thus, ff is bounded in every bounded subset of R\mathbb{R}. Let x0x \neq 0. When y0y \to 0 it follows from the boundedness of ff and the given equality that f(x+y)f(x)f(x + y) \to f(x), i.e. ff is continuous at xx. For y=xy = -x we have f(x)f(x)=f(2x)f(x) - f(-x) = f(2x). Thus f(x)f(x)=f(2x)f(-x) - f(x) = f(-2x) and therefore f(2x)=f(2x)=2f(x)-f(-2x) = f(2x) = 2f(x). It follows by induction on n3n \ge 3 that for x=(n1)yx = (n-1)y we have f(ny)=nf(y)f(ny) = nf(y). Hence f(r)=arf(r) = ar, where a=f(1)a = f(1) and rQ+r \in \mathbb{Q}^+. Since ff is odd and continuous we obtain that f(x)=axf(x) = ax for any x0x \neq 0. When x=yx = y we have that f(0)=0f(0) = 0 implying that f(x)=axf(x) = ax for any xx. It is easily checked that f(x)=axf(x) = ax is indeed a solution of the problem.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.