Let denote the set of positive rational numbers. Determine all functions that satisfy the conditions
for all .
Team Selection Test for IMO, 2011
Solution
Let be a positive integer and . Then . It follows by induction that for all positive integers .
We claim that for all relatively prime positive integers and . This time we use induction on . If , then
where we used the induction hypothesis. On the other hand, if , then first
Conversely, it can be easily verified that the function defined by for all relatively prime positive integers and , where a positive rational number, satisfies the conditions of the question.
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