Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /8 of 19

Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National olympiad Prove it Ukraine

Find all functions f:RRf: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}, such that for any real xx, yy holds the following:
xf(x)+yf(xy)=xf(x+yf(y)) xf(x) + yf(xy) = xf(x + yf(y))

Solution

Let P(x,y)P(x, y) be the given assertion,
P(0,1):f(0)=0 P(0,1): f(0) = 0
Assume that there exists a0a \neq 0 such that f(a)=0f(a) = 0. Then P(x,a)P(x, a):
xf(x)+af(xa)=xf(x)xR f(xa)=0xR f(x)=0 xf(x) + af(xa) = xf(x) \Rightarrow \forall x \in \mathbb{R} \ f(xa) = 0 \Rightarrow \forall x \in \mathbb{R} \ f(x) = 0
And we found the first solution.

Let us now assume that ff is not identically zero, so f(x)=0x=0f(x) = 0 \Leftrightarrow x = 0
P(1,1):0=f(1)+f(1)=f(1+f(1))f(1)=1 P(-1,1): 0 = -f(-1) + f(-1) = -f(-1 + f(1)) \Rightarrow f(1) = 1
P(x,1):xf(x)+f(x)=xf(x+1)(x+1)f(x)=xf(x+1)x0,1 P(x, 1): xf(x) + f(x) = xf(x+1) \Rightarrow (x+1)f(x) = xf(x+1) \Rightarrow \forall x \neq 0, -1
f(x)x=f(x+1)x+1(1) \frac{f(x)}{x} = \frac{f(x+1)}{x+1} \quad (1)
We already have that f(1)=1f(1) = 1, so we can get from (1) that nN f(n)=n\forall n \in \mathbb{N} \ f(n) = n. Also, we can obtain from (1) that f(2)=2f(1)f(-2) = 2f(-1).
P(1,2):f(1)+2f(2)=f(1+2f(2))=f(3)=3f(1)=1 P(-1,2): -f(-1) + 2f(-2) = -f(-1 + 2f(2)) = -f(3) = -3 \Rightarrow f(-1) = -1
By combining this with (1) we can get that nZ f(n)=n\forall n \in \mathbb{Z} \ f(n) = n.

Let us now show that nZ\forall n \in \mathbb{Z} and xR\forall x \in \mathbb{R}, (x+n)f(x)=xf(x+n)(x+n)f(x) = xf(x+n). If xZx \in \mathbb{Z} this is obvious, otherwise we can write that f(x)x=f(x+1)x+1==f(x+n)x+n\frac{f(x)}{x} = \frac{f(x+1)}{x+1} = \cdots = \frac{f(x+n)}{x+n} and obtain this equality.

P(x,n):xf(x)+nf(nx)=xf(x+nf(n))xf(x)+nf(nx)=xf(x+n2)=(x+n2)f(x)xf(x)+nf(nx)=xf(x)+n2f(x)f(nx)=nf(x). \begin{align*} P(x, n): \quad xf(x) + nf(nx) &= xf(x + nf(n)) \\ &\Rightarrow xf(x) + nf(nx) = xf(x + n^2) = (x + n^2)f(x) \\ &\Rightarrow xf(x) + nf(nx) = xf(x) + n^2f(x) \\ &\Rightarrow f(nx) = nf(x). \tag{2} \end{align*}

After we'll divide P(x,y)P(x, y) by x0x \neq 0:
f(x)+yf(xy)x=f(x+yf(y)).(4) f(x) + \frac{yf(xy)}{x} = f(x + yf(y)). \quad (4)

P(1,y):1+yf(y)=f(1+yf(y))P(1, y): 1 + yf(y) = f(1 + yf(y))

Let us now put x=yf(y)x = yf(y) in (1), so f(yf(y))yf(y)=f(yf(y)+1)yf(y)+1=1\frac{f(yf(y))}{yf(y)} = \frac{f(yf(y)+1)}{yf(y)+1} = 1 \Rightarrow
f(yf(y))=yf(y).(3) f(yf(y)) = yf(y). \quad (3)

Put x=xf(x)x = xf(x) there and by symmetry we'll get the following:
f(xf(x))+yf(xyf(x))xf(x)=f(xf(x)+yf(y))=f(yf(y))+xf(xyf(y))yf(y)f(xf(x))xf(xyf(y))yf(y)=f(yf(y))yf(xyf(x))xf(x) \begin{align*} f(xf(x)) + \frac{yf(xyf(x))}{xf(x)} &= f(xf(x) + yf(y)) \\ &= f(yf(y)) + \frac{xf(xyf(y))}{yf(y)} \\ \Rightarrow f(xf(x)) - \frac{xf(xyf(y))}{yf(y)} &= f(yf(y)) - \frac{yf(xyf(x))}{xf(x)} \end{align*}
If we put here 2x2x instead of xx there, then the LHS will increase by 4 times because of (2) and the RHS will not change, so both are zero and hence, f(xf(x))=xf(xyf(y))yf(y)f(xf(x)) = \frac{xf(xyf(y))}{yf(y)} \Rightarrow
f(xyf(y))=f(x)yf(y)(5) f(xyf(y)) = f(x)yf(y) \quad (5)

Let us put x=x+1x = x + 1 into (5):
f(x+1)yf(y)=f((x+1)yf(y))=f(xyf(y)+yf(y))=(4)f(xyf(y))+yf(xy2f(y))xyf(y)=(5)f(x)yf(y)+y2f(y)f(xy)xyf(y)=f(x)yf(y)+yf(xy)x \begin{align*} f(x+1)yf(y) &= f((x+1)yf(y)) = f(xyf(y) + yf(y)) \\ &\stackrel{(4)}{=} f(xyf(y)) + \frac{yf(xy^2f(y))}{xyf(y)} \\ &\stackrel{(5)}{=} f(x)yf(y) + \frac{y^2f(y)f(xy)}{xyf(y)} = f(x)yf(y) + \frac{yf(xy)}{x} \end{align*}
So, (f(x+1)f(x))x=f(xy)f(y)(f(x+1) - f(x))x = \frac{f(xy)}{f(y)} and by substituting y=1y=1 here, we are getting that
(f(x+1)f(x))x=f(x)f(xy)=f(x)f(y)(6) (f(x+1) - f(x))x = f(x) \Rightarrow f(xy) = f(x)f(y) \quad (6)
By using (6) in (3) we get that f(f(y))=yf(f(y)) = y. So
P(f(y),y):f(y)y+yf(f(y)y)=f(y)f(f(y)+yf(y))f(y)y+y2f(y)=yf(y)f(y+1)f(y+1)=y+1xR f(x)=x is the second solution. \begin{align*} P(f(y), y): \quad f(y)y + yf(f(y)y) &= f(y)f(f(y) + yf(y)) \\ &\Rightarrow f(y)y + y^2f(y) = yf(y)f(y+1) \\ &\Rightarrow f(y+1) = y+1 \Rightarrow \forall x \in \mathbb{R} \ f(x) = x \text{ is the second solution.} \end{align*}

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.