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Algebra Difficulty 7.4 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Asia Pacific Mathematics Olympiad (APMO)

Let c>0c>0 be a given positive real and R>0\mathbb{R}_{>0} be the set of all positive reals. Find all functions f:R>0R>0f: \mathbb{R}_{>0} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}_{>0} such that
f((c+1)x+f(y))=f(x+2y)+2cx for all x,yR>0. f((c+1) x+f(y))=f(x+2 y)+2 c x \quad \text{ for all } x, y \in \mathbb{R}_{>0} .

Solution

We first prove that f(x)2xf(x) \geq 2 x for all x>0x>0. Suppose, for the sake of contradiction, that f(y)<2yf(y)<2 y for some positive yy. Choose xx such that f((c+1)x+f(y))f((c+1) x+f(y)) and f(x+2y)f(x+2 y) cancel out, that is,
(c+1)x+f(y)=x+2yx=2yf(y)c (c+1) x+f(y)=x+2 y \Longleftrightarrow x=\frac{2 y-f(y)}{c}
Notice that x>0x>0 because 2yf(y)>02 y-f(y)>0. Then 2cx=02 c x=0, which is not possible. This contradiction yields f(y)2yf(y) \geq 2 y for all y>0y>0.

Now suppose, again for the sake of contradiction, that f(y)>2yf(y)>2 y for some y>0y>0. Define the following sequence: a0a_{0} is an arbitrary real greater than 2y2 y, and f(an)=f(an1)+2cxf\left(a_{n}\right)=f\left(a_{n-1}\right)+2 c x, so that
{(c+1)x+f(y)=anx+2y=an1x=an12y and an=(c+1)(an12y)+f(y). \left\{ \begin{array}{r} (c+1) x+f(y)=a_{n} \\ x+2 y=a_{n-1} \end{array} \Longleftrightarrow x=a_{n-1}-2 y \quad \text{ and } \quad a_{n}=(c+1)\left(a_{n-1}-2 y\right)+f(y) .\right.
If x=an12y>0x=a_{n-1}-2 y>0 then an>f(y)>2ya_{n}>f(y)>2 y, so inductively all the substitutions make sense.

For the sake of simplicity, let bn=an2yb_{n}=a_{n}-2 y, so bn=(c+1)bn1+f(y)2y()b_{n}=(c+1) b_{n-1}+f(y)-2 y(*). Notice that x=bn1x=b_{n-1} in the former equation, so f(an)=f(an1)+2cbn1f\left(a_{n}\right)=f\left(a_{n-1}\right)+2 c b_{n-1}. Telescoping yields
f(an)=f(a0)+2ci=0n1bi. f\left(a_{n}\right)=f\left(a_{0}\right)+2 c \sum_{i=0}^{n-1} b_{i} .
One can find bnb_{n} from the recurrence equation ():bn=(b0+f(y)2yc)(c+1)nf(y)2yc(*): b_{n}=\left(b_{0}+\frac{f(y)-2 y}{c}\right)(c+1)^{n}-\frac{f(y)-2 y}{c}, and then
f(an)=f(a0)+2ci=0n1((b0+f(y)2yc)(c+1)if(y)2yc)=f(a0)+2(b0+f(y)2yc)((c+1)n1)2n(f(y)2y). \begin{aligned} f\left(a_{n}\right) & =f\left(a_{0}\right)+2 c \sum_{i=0}^{n-1}\left(\left(b_{0}+\frac{f(y)-2 y}{c}\right)(c+1)^{i}-\frac{f(y)-2 y}{c}\right) \\ & =f\left(a_{0}\right)+2\left(b_{0}+\frac{f(y)-2 y}{c}\right)\left((c+1)^{n}-1\right)-2 n(f(y)-2 y) . \end{aligned}
Since f(an)2an=2bn+4yf\left(a_{n}\right) \geq 2 a_{n}=2 b_{n}+4 y,
f(a0)+2(b0+f(y)2yc)((c+1)n1)2n(f(y)2y)2bn+4y=2(b0+f(y)2yc)(c+1)n2f(y)2yc, \begin{aligned} & f\left(a_{0}\right)+2\left(b_{0}+\frac{f(y)-2 y}{c}\right)\left((c+1)^{n}-1\right)-2 n(f(y)-2 y) \geq 2 b_{n}+4 y \\ = & 2\left(b_{0}+\frac{f(y)-2 y}{c}\right)(c+1)^{n}-2 \frac{f(y)-2 y}{c}, \end{aligned}
which implies
f(a0)+2f(y)2yc2(b0+f(y)2yc)+2n(f(y)2y), f\left(a_{0}\right)+2 \frac{f(y)-2 y}{c} \geq 2\left(b_{0}+\frac{f(y)-2 y}{c}\right)+2 n(f(y)-2 y),
which is not true for sufficiently large nn.
A contradiction is reached, and thus f(y)=2yf(y)=2 y for all y>0y>0. It is immediate that this function satisfies the functional equation.

After proving that f(y)2yf(y) \geq 2 y for all y>0y>0, one can define g(x)=f(x)2x,g:R>0R0g(x)=f(x)-2 x, g: \mathbb{R}_{>0} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}_{\geq 0}, and our goal is proving that g(x)=0g(x)=0 for all x>0x>0. The problem is now rewritten as
g((c+1)x+g(y)+2y)+2((c+1)x+g(y)+2y)=g(x+2y)+2(x+2y)+2cxg((c+1)x+g(y)+2y)+2g(y)=g(x+2y) \begin{align*} & g((c+1) x+g(y)+2 y)+2((c+1) x+g(y)+2 y)=g(x+2 y)+2(x+2 y)+2 c x \\ \Longleftrightarrow & g((c+1) x+g(y)+2 y)+2 g(y)=g(x+2 y) \tag{1} \end{align*}
This readily implies that g(x+2y)2g(y)g(x+2 y) \geq 2 g(y), which can be interpreted as z>2yg(z)2g(y)z>2 y \Longrightarrow g(z) \geq 2 g(y), by plugging z=x+2yz=x+2 y.

Now we prove by induction that z>2yg(z)2mg(y)z>2 y \Longrightarrow g(z) \geq 2 m \cdot g(y) for any positive integer 2m2 m. In fact, since (c+1)x+g(y)+2y>2y,g((c+1)x+g(y)+2y)2mg(y)(c+1) x+g(y)+2 y>2 y, g((c+1) x+g(y)+2 y) \geq 2 m \cdot g(y), and by (??),
g(x+2y)2mg(y)+2g(y)=2(m+1)g(y), g(x+2 y) \geq 2 m \cdot g(y)+2 g(y)=2(m+1) g(y),
and we are done by plugging z=x+2yz=x+2 y again.

The problem now is done: if g(y)>0g(y)>0 for some y>0y>0, choose a fixed z>2yz>2 y arbitrarily and and integer mm such that m>g(z)2g(y)m>\frac{g(z)}{2 g(y)}. Then g(z)<2mg(y)g(z)<2 m \cdot g(y), contradiction.

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