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Algebra Difficulty 8.2 Shortlist Prove it Hong Kong

Find all real-valued functions ff defined on the set of real numbers such that
f(f(x)+y)+f(x+f(y))=2f(xf(y)) f(f(x) + y) + f(x + f(y)) = 2f(xf(y))
for any real numbers xx and yy.

Solution

The answer is any constant function ff.
Clearly, constant functions are solutions. In the following, we show that there is no solution if ff is not a constant function.
Label the equation
f(f(x)+y)+f(x+f(y))=2f(xf(y)).(1) f(f(x) + y) + f(x + f(y)) = 2f(xf(y)). \qquad (1)
Swapping xx and yy, we get f(f(y)+x)+f(y+f(x))=2f(yf(x))f(f(y) + x) + f(y + f(x)) = 2f(yf(x)). Comparing with (1), we get
f(xf(y))=f(yf(x)).(2) f(xf(y)) = f(yf(x)). \qquad (2)
Putting x=0x = 0 in (2), we find that f(0)=f(yf(0))f(0) = f(yf(0)). If f(0)0f(0) \neq 0, then yf(0)yf(0) runs through all real values. This implies ff is a constant function, which is a contradiction. So we have f(0)=0f(0) = 0. Putting x=1x = 1 in (2), we obtain
f(f(y))=f(yf(1)).(3) f(f(y)) = f(yf(1)). \qquad (3)
Next, we put x=0x = 0 in (1) to get
f(y)+f(f(y))=0.(4) f(y) + f(f(y)) = 0. \qquad (4)
Replacing xx by f(x)f(x) in (1), and using (4), we find that
f(f(x)+y)+f(f(x)+f(y))=2f(f(x)f(y)). f(-f(x) + y) + f(f(x) + f(y)) = 2f(f(x)f(y)).

Swapping xx and yy, and comparing with this equation again, we get
f(f(x)+y)=f(f(y)+x).(5) f(-f(x) + y) = f(-f(y) + x). \tag{5}
Putting y=f(x)y = f(x) in (5) and using (4), we have f(f(x)+x)=0f(f(x) + x) = 0. Then we put x=y=1x = y = 1 in (1) to obtain f(f(1))=0f(f(1)) = 0. It follows from (4) by putting y=1y = 1 that f(1)=0f(1) = 0. Thus, (3) becomes f(f(y))=0f(f(y)) = 0. Together with (4), we find that f(y)=0f(y) = 0 for any yRy \in \mathbb{R}. This is a contradiction as we have assumed ff is non-constant.
Therefore, the only solutions are the constant functions.

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