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Algebra Difficulty 8.0 Shortlist Prove it Germany

Problem:

Determine with proof all functions f:R+R+f: \mathbb{R}^{+} \rightarrow \mathbb{R}^{+} with the property
f(x)f(y)=2f(x+yf(x)) f(x) f(y) = 2 f(x + y f(x))
for all positive real numbers x,yx, y.

Solution

Solution:

Clearly the function f(x)=2f(x) = 2 for all xR+x \in \mathbb{R}^{+} satisfies the given functional equation. We will show that this is the only solution.

Lemma 1: For all xR+x \in \mathbb{R}^{+} we have f(x)1f(x) \geq 1.

To prove this, suppose f(x)<1f(x) < 1 for some suitable xx and set y=x1f(x)y = \frac{x}{1 - f(x)}. Then x>0x > 0 and it follows that y=x+yf(x)y = x + y f(x). From (I) we obtain f(x)f(x+yf(x))=2f(x+yf(x))f(x) f(x + y f(x)) = 2 f(x + y f(x)) and since f(x+yf(x))>0f(x + y f(x)) > 0 it follows that f(x)=2f(x) = 2, contradiction!

Lemma 2: For all xR+x \in \mathbb{R}^{+} we have f(x)2f(x) \geq 2.

To prove this we set x=yx = y in (I) and obtain (II): f2(x)=2f(x+xf(x))f^{2}(x) = 2 f(x + x f(x)). Let f(x1)<2f\left(x_{1}\right) < 2 for some suitable x1x_{1}. Then f(x1+x1f(x1))=f2(x1)2<f(x1)f\left(x_{1} + x_{1} f\left(x_{1}\right)\right) = \frac{f^{2}\left(x_{1}\right)}{2} < f\left(x_{1}\right). With xk+1=xk+xkf(xk)x_{k+1} = x_{k} + x_{k} f\left(x_{k}\right) for k=1,2,k = 1, 2, \ldots we obtain a monotonically decreasing sequence (f(x1)=a;a22;a423;;a2t22t1,)\left(f\left(x_{1}\right) = a ; \frac{a^{2}}{2} ; \frac{a^{4}}{2^{3}} ; \ldots ; \frac{a^{2 t}}{2^{2 t-1}}, \ldots\right) of function values. For t>122log2at > \frac{1}{2 - 2 \log_{2} a} the values of this sequence are smaller than 1, contradiction!

Lemma 3: ff is monotonically increasing.

To prove this, assume there exist s,ε>0s, \varepsilon > 0 with f(s)>f(s+ε)f(s) > f(s + \varepsilon). Substituting x=sx = s and y=εf(s)y = \frac{\varepsilon}{f(s)} into (I) gives f(s)f(εf(s))=2f(s+ε)f(s) f\left(\frac{\varepsilon}{f(s)}\right) = 2 f(s + \varepsilon), from which it follows that f(εf(s))<2f\left(\frac{\varepsilon}{f(s)}\right) < 2, contradiction!

Lemma 4: If there exists a zR+z \in \mathbb{R}^{+} with f(z)>2f(z) > 2, then f(x)>2f(x) > 2 holds for all xR+x \in \mathbb{R}^{+}.

Again we substitute x=zx = z and y=εf(z)y = \frac{\varepsilon}{f(z)} into (I) and have f(z)f(εf(z))=2f(z+ε)f(z) f\left(\frac{\varepsilon}{f(z)}\right) = 2 f(z + \varepsilon), from which it now follows with Lemma 2 that: f(z)f(z+ε)f(z) \leq f(z + \varepsilon) for all ε>0\varepsilon > 0. Hence there exists a z00z_{0} \geq 0 with f(z)>2f(z) > 2 for all z>z0z > z_{0}. Suppose that z0>0z_{0} > 0. Then with x=y=z0ε>0x = y = z_{0} - \varepsilon > 0 it follows from (I) that f(x)f(y)=4f(x) f(y) = 4, and since x+yf(x)=(z0ε)(1+f(z0ε))=3(z0ε)x + y f(x) = \left(z_{0} - \varepsilon\right)\left(1 + f\left(z_{0} - \varepsilon\right)\right) = 3\left(z_{0} - \varepsilon\right), for sufficiently small ε\varepsilon we have 3(z0ε)>z03\left(z_{0} - \varepsilon\right) > z_{0} and therefore 2f(x+yf(x))>42 f(x + y f(x)) > 4, contradiction!

Lemma 5: If f(x)>2f(x) > 2 for all xR+x \in \mathbb{R}^{+}, then ff is injective.

Suppose there existed s,ε>0s, \varepsilon > 0 with f(s)=f(s+ε)f(s) = f(s + \varepsilon). We substitute x=sx = s and y=εf(s)y = \frac{\varepsilon}{f(s)} into (I) and have f(s)f(εf(s))=2f(s+ε)f(s) f\left(\frac{\varepsilon}{f(s)}\right) = 2 f(s + \varepsilon), from which it now follows that f(s)<f(s+ε)f(s) < f(s + \varepsilon), contradiction!

Main proof: Because of the symmetry of the left-hand side of (I), we also have x+yf(x)=y+xf(y)x + y f(x) = y + x f(y). For y=1y = 1 it follows that f(x)=(f(1)1)x+1=mx+1f(x) = (f(1) - 1) x + 1 = m x + 1. However, by substitution it is easily shown that no linear function can be a solution of (I).

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