Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /3 of 16

Algebra Difficulty 8.1 Shortlist Prove it IMO

Let ff be any function that maps the set of real numbers into the set of real numbers. Prove that there exist real numbers xx and yy such that
f(xf(y))>yf(x)+x. f(x-f(y))>y f(x)+x .

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Assume that
f(xf(y))yf(x)+x for all real x,y.(1) f(x-f(y)) \leq y f(x)+x \quad \text{ for all real } x, y . \tag{1}
Let a=f(0)a=f(0). Setting y=0y=0 in (1) gives f(xa)xf(x-a) \leq x for all real xx and, equivalently,
f(y)y+a for all real y.(2) f(y) \leq y+a \quad \text{ for all real } y . \tag{2}
Setting x=f(y)x=f(y) in (1) yields in view of (2)
a=f(0)yf(f(y))+f(y)yf(f(y))+y+a. a=f(0) \leq y f(f(y))+f(y) \leq y f(f(y))+y+a .
This implies 0y(f(f(y))+1)0 \leq y(f(f(y))+1) and thus
f(f(y))1 for all y>0.(3) f(f(y)) \geq -1 \quad \text{ for all } y>0 . \tag{3}
From (2) and (3) we obtain 1f(f(y))f(y)+a-1 \leq f(f(y)) \leq f(y)+a for all y>0y>0, so
f(y)a1 for all y>0(4) f(y) \geq -a-1 \quad \text{ for all } y>0 \tag{4}
Now we show that
f(x)0 for all real x.(5) f(x) \leq 0 \quad \text{ for all real } x . \tag{5}
Assume the contrary, i.e. there is some xx such that f(x)>0f(x)>0. Take any yy such that
y<xa and y<ax1f(x). y<x-a \quad \text{ and } \quad y<\frac{-a-x-1}{f(x)} .
Then in view of (2)
xf(y)x(y+a)>0 x-f(y) \geq x-(y+a)>0
and with (1) and (4) we obtain
yf(x)+xf(xf(y))a1, y f(x)+x \geq f(x-f(y)) \geq -a-1,
whence
yax1f(x) y \geq \frac{-a-x-1}{f(x)}
contrary to our choice of yy. Thereby, we have established (5).
Setting x=0x=0 in (5) leads to a=f(0)0a=f(0) \leq 0 and (2) then yields
f(x)x for all real x.(6) f(x) \leq x \quad \text{ for all real } x . \tag{6}
Now choose yy such that y>0y>0 and y>f(1)1y>-f(-1)-1 and set x=f(y)1x=f(y)-1. From (1), (5) and
(6) we obtain
f(1)=f(xf(y))yf(x)+x=yf(f(y)1)+f(y)1y(f(y)1)1y1, f(-1)=f(x-f(y)) \leq y f(x)+x=y f(f(y)-1)+f(y)-1 \leq y(f(y)-1)-1 \leq -y-1,
i.e. yf(1)1y \leq -f(-1)-1, a contradiction to the choice of yy.

Solution 2

Assume that
f(xf(y))yf(x)+x for all real x,y.(7) f(x-f(y)) \leq y f(x)+x \quad \text{ for all real } x, y . \tag{7}
Let a=f(0)a=f(0). Setting y=0y=0 in (7) gives f(xa)xf(x-a) \leq x for all real xx and, equivalently,
f(y)y+a for all real y.(8) f(y) \leq y+a \quad \text{ for all real } y . \tag{8}
Now we show that
f(z)0 for all z1(9) f(z) \geq 0 \quad \text{ for all } z \geq 1 \tag{9}
Let z1z \geq 1 be fixed, set b=f(z)b=f(z) and assume that b<0b<0. Setting x=w+bx=w+b and y=zy=z in (7) gives
f(w)zf(w+b)w+b for all real w.(10) f(w)-z f(w+b) \leq w+b \text{ for all real } w . \tag{10}
Applying (10) to w,w+b,,w+(n1)bw, w+b, \ldots, w+(n-1) b, where n=1,2,n=1,2, \ldots, leads to
f(w)znf(w+nb)=(f(w)zf(w+b))+z(f(w+b)zf(w+2b))++zn1(f(w+(n1)b)zf(w+nb))(w+b)+z(w+2b)++zn1(w+nb) \begin{aligned} f(w)-z^{n} f(w+n b)= & (f(w)-z f(w+b))+z(f(w+b)-z f(w+2 b)) \\ & +\cdots+z^{n-1}(f(w+(n-1) b)-z f(w+n b)) \\ \leq & (w+b)+z(w+2 b)+\cdots+z^{n-1}(w+n b) \end{aligned}
From (8) we obtain
f(w+nb)w+nb+a f(w+n b) \leq w+n b+a
and, thus, we have for all positive integers nn
f(w)(1+z++zn1+zn)w+(1+2z++nzn1+nzn)b+zna.(11) f(w) \leq\left(1+z+\cdots+z^{n-1}+z^{n}\right) w+\left(1+2 z+\cdots+n z^{n-1}+n z^{n}\right) b+z^{n} a . \tag{11}
With w=0w=0 we get
a(1+2z++nzn1+nzn)b+azn(12) a \leq\left(1+2 z+\cdots+n z^{n-1}+n z^{n}\right) b+a z^{n} \tag{12}
In view of the assumption b<0b<0 we find some nn such that
a>(nb+a)zn(13) a>(n b+a) z^{n} \tag{13}
because the right hand side tends to -\infty as nn \rightarrow \infty. Now (12) and (13) give the desired contradiction and (9) is established. In addition, we have for z=1z=1 the strict inequality
f(1)>0.(14) f(1)>0 . \tag{14}
Indeed, assume that f(1)=0f(1)=0. Then setting w=1w=-1 and z=1z=1 in (11) leads to
f(1)(n+1)+a f(-1) \leq-(n+1)+a
which is false if nn is sufficiently large.
To complete the proof we set t=min{a,2/f(1)}t=\min \{-a,-2 / f(1)\}. Setting x=1x=1 and y=ty=t in (7) gives
f(1f(t))tf(1)+12+1=1(15) f(1-f(t)) \leq t f(1)+1 \leq -2+1=-1 \tag{15}
On the other hand, by (8) and the choice of tt we have f(t)t+a0f(t) \leq t+a \leq 0 and hence 1f(t)11-f(t) \geq 1. The inequality (9) yields
f(1f(t))0 f(1-f(t)) \geq 0
which contradicts (15).

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.