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Algebra Difficulty 7.0 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Taiwan

Let N\mathbb{N} denote the set of all positive integers. Find all functions f:NNf : \mathbb{N} \rightarrow \mathbb{N} satisfying
f(x+y(f(x)))=x+f(x)f(y) f(x + y(f(x))) = x + f(x)f(y)
for all positive integers x,yx, y.

Let N\mathbb{N} denote the set of all positive integers. Find all functions f:NNf : \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N} satisfying
f(x+y(f(x)))=x+f(x)f(y) f(x + y(f(x))) = x + f(x)f(y)
for all positive integers x,yx, y.

Solution

First, when xzx(modf(x))x \neq z \equiv x \pmod{f(x)}, we have f(z)x(modf(x))f(z) \equiv x \pmod{f(x)}. Then substituting x+f(x)x + f(x) and f(x)f(x) for x,yx, y in the original equation gives
f(x+f(x)+f(x)f(x+f(x)))=x+f(x)+f(x+f(x))f(f(x)) f(x + f(x) + f(x)f(x + f(x))) = x + f(x) + f(x + f(x))f(f(x))
Taking both sides mod f(x)f(x), we obtain an important relation
f(x)xf(f(x))(1) f(x) \mid x f(f(x)) \quad (1)
In particular, we have
f(x+yf(x))(x+yf(x))f(f(x+yf(x))) f(x + y f(x)) \mid (x + y f(x)) f(f(x + y f(x)))
that is,
x+f(x)f(y)(x+yf(x))(x+f(f(y))f(x)) x + f(x)f(y) \mid (x + y f(x))(x + f(f(y))f(x))
which is equivalent to
x+f(x)f(y)f(x)2(f(y)y)(f(f(y))f(y))(2) x + f(x)f(y) \mid f(x)^2(f(y) - y)(f(f(y)) - f(y)) \quad (2)
Suppose f(1)1f(1) \neq 1. We claim that there exists a large number aa such that
(a,f(a))=1(3) (a, f(a)) = 1 \quad (3)
This is because, by a simple mathematical induction, we have
f(1+f(1)++f(1)n)=1+f(1)++f(1)n1+f(1)n+1 f(1 + f(1) + \cdots + f(1)^n) = 1 + f(1) + \cdots + f(1)^{n-1} + f(1)^{n+1}
and their greatest common divisor is
(1+f(1)++f(1)n,f(1)1) (1 + f(1) + \cdots + f(1)^n, f(1) - 1)
So as long as nn satisfies (n+1,f(1)1)=1(n + 1, f(1) - 1) = 1, (3) will hold. Clearly nn can be taken very large,
and the corresponding 1+f(1)++f(1)n1 + f(1) + \cdots + f(1)^n is the aa we want.
Now, taking x=ax = a in equation (2), we have
a+f(a)f(y)(f(y)y)(f(f(y))f(y)) a + f(a)f(y) \mid (f(y) - y)(f(f(y)) - f(y))
Hence for all yy, we have
f(f(y))=f(y)(4) f(f(y)) = f(y) \quad (4)
Substituting f(x)f(x) for xx in the original condition:
f((y+1)f(x))=(f(y)+1)f(x)(5) f((y+1)f(x)) = (f(y)+1)f(x) \quad (5)
Then substituting f(y)1f(y) - 1 for yy (this is legal, since 11 is not in the range of ff) gives
f(f(y)f(x))=(f(f(y)1)+1)f(x) f(f(y)f(x)) = (f(f(y) - 1) + 1)f(x)
Therefore there exists a constant cc satisfying
f(x)=c(f(f(x)1)+1)(6) f(x) = c(f(f(x) - 1) + 1) \quad (6)
Taking x=1+f(1)x = 1 + f(1) in the above equation gives
1+f(1)2=c(f(f(1)2)+1) 1 + f(1)^2 = c(f(f(1)^2) + 1)
Note that by using (4)
f(f(1)2)=(f(f(1)1)+1)f(1)=f(1)2c f(f(1)^2) = (f(f(1) - 1) + 1)f(1) = \frac{f(1)^2}{c}
Substituting back gives c=1c = 1. Finally, suppose the smallest fixed point of ff is k>1k > 1 (which exists by (3) and the well-ordering principle); then by (5) we get that k1k - 1 is also a fixed point, a contradiction.
Combining the above, we must have f(1)=1f(1) = 1, hence
f(x)=x,xN f(x) = x, \forall x \in \mathbb{N}
Substituting back to verify, this clearly holds.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.