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Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Austria

Let αQ+\alpha \in \mathbb{Q}^+. Determine all functions f:Q+Q+f: \mathbb{Q}^+ \to \mathbb{Q}^+ such that
f(xy+y)=f(x)f(y)+αx f\left(\frac{x}{y} + y\right) = \frac{f(x)}{f(y)} + \alpha x
holds for all x,yQ+x, y \in \mathbb{Q}^+.
Here, Q+\mathbb{Q}^+ denotes the set of positive rational numbers.

Solution

Setting y=xy = x and y=1y = 1 yields
f(x+1)=1+f(x)+αx(1) f(x+1) = 1 + f(x) + \alpha x \qquad (1)
and
f(x+1)=f(x)f(1)+f(1)+αx(2) f(x+1) = \frac{f(x)}{f(1)} + f(1) + \alpha x \qquad (2)
respectively. Equating (1) and (2) implies
f(x)(11f(1))=f(1)1. f(x)\left(1 - \frac{1}{f(1)}\right) = f(1) - 1.
As ff cannot be constant due to (1), we obtain f(1)=1f(1) = 1. By induction, we get
f(x)=α2x(x1)+xfor all xZ+.(3) f(x) = \frac{\alpha}{2}x(x-1) + x \quad \text{for all } x \in \mathbb{Z}^+. \qquad (3)
In particular, this implies f(2)=α+2f(2) = \alpha + 2 and f(4)=6α+4f(4) = 6\alpha + 4. Setting x=4x = 4 and y=2y = 2 in the functional equation yields
α22α=0. \alpha^2 - 2\alpha = 0.
Thus we must have α=2\alpha = 2 in order to obtain solutions. From now on, we only consider this case.
From (3), we obtain f(x)=x2f(x) = x^2 for xZ+x \in \mathbb{Z}^+. By induction, we obtain that for xQ+x \in \mathbb{Q}^+ and nZ+n \in \mathbb{Z}^+, from the relation f(x+n)=(x+n)2f(x+n) = (x+n)^2 it follows that f(x)=x2f(x) = x^2.
Let now abQ+\frac{a}{b} \in \mathbb{Q}^+ with a,bZ+a, b \in \mathbb{Z}^+. We set x=ax = a and y=by = b and obtain
f(ab+b)=a2b2+b2+2a=(ab+b)2. f\left(\frac{a}{b} + b\right) = \frac{a^2}{b^2} + b^2 + 2a = \left(\frac{a}{b} + b\right)^2.
The above remark implies that f(ab)=(ab)2f(\frac{a}{b}) = (\frac{a}{b})^2. It is easily verified that f(x)=x2f(x) = x^2 is indeed a solution.
Thus there is no solution for α2\alpha \neq 2 and the solution f(x)=x2f(x) = x^2 for α=2\alpha = 2.

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