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Algebra Difficulty 5.1 AIME, harder Prove it Belarus

Find all functions f:RRf : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}, g:RRg : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} satisfying the following equality f(f(x+y))=xf(y)+g(x)f(f(x+y)) = x f(y) + g(x) for all real xx and yy. (I. Gorodnin)

Solution

Answer: f(x)=af(x) = a, g(x)=aaxg(x) = a - a x for all aRa \in \mathbb{R}.

Let a=f(0)a = f(0), b=g(0)b = g(0). Note that due to the symmetry the given equation implies
xf(y)+g(x)=yf(x)+g(y).(1) x f(y) + g(x) = y f(x) + g(y). \tag{1}
Set y=0y = 0 in (1), then we have g(x)=baxg(x) = b - a x. Now set y=1y = 1 in (1), then f(x)=(f(1)a)x+a=a+cxf(x) = (f(1) - a)x + a = a + c x. Now substituting g(x)g(x) and f(x)f(x) in the given equation we easily obtain that c=0c = 0, b=ab = a.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.