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Taiwan IMO Selection Camp

Algebra Difficulty 7.0 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Taiwan

Let R+\mathbb{R}^+ be the set of all positive real numbers. Determine all functions f:R+→R+f : \mathbb{R}^+ \to \mathbb{R}^+ satisfying
f(x+y+f(y))=4030x−f(x)+f(2016y), f(x + y + f(y)) = 4030x - f(x) + f(2016y),
for all positive real numbers x,yx, y.

Solution

It's trivial that if ff maps xx to 2015x2015x, then the functional equation holds. And we'll show that it is the only function that satisfies our requirement. As usual, there are some parts in our proof. For simplicity, let k=2015k = 2015, then the functional equation becomes
f(x+y+f(y))=2kx−f(x)+f((k+1)y)∀x,y∈R+(1) f(x + y + f(y)) = 2kx - f(x) + f((k+1)y) \quad \forall x, y \in \mathbb{R}^+ \quad (1)

Step 1:
f((k+1)a)−f((k+1)b)=k(f(b)+b−f(c)−c)∀b,c∈R+. f((k+1)a) - f((k+1)b) = k(f(b) + b - f(c) - c) \quad \forall b, c \in \mathbb{R}^+.
Set x=a+b+f(b)x = a + b + f(b), y=cy = c in (3), then we get
d=2k(a+b+f(b))−f(a+b+f(b))+f((k+1)c)=2k(a+b+f(b))−(2ka−f(a)+f((k+1)b))+f((k+1)c) \begin{aligned} d &= 2k(a+b+f(b)) - f(a+b+f(b)) + f((k+1)c) \\ &= 2k(a+b+f(b)) - (2ka - f(a) + f((k+1)b)) + f((k+1)c) \end{aligned}
where d=f(a+b+f(b)+c+f(c))d = f(a+b+f(b)+c+f(c)). Similarly, when x=a+c+f(c),y=bx = a+c+f(c), y=b, then
d=2k(a+c+f(c))−(2ka−f(a)+f((k+1)c))+f((k+1)b) d = 2k(a + c + f(c)) - (2ka - f(a) + f((k+1)c)) + f((k+1)b)
Consequently, we must have
f((k+1)b)−f((k+1)c)=k(f(b)+b−f(c)−c). f((k+1)b) - f((k+1)c) = k(f(b) + b - f(c) - c).
Since there isn't any restriction to b,cb, c, the conclusion follows.

Step 2: ∀b,c∈R+\forall b, c \in \mathbb{R}^+, we have
2kb−f(b)+f((k+1)[(k+2)c+f(c)])2k(b+(k+1)(2k+1)c)−f(b+(k+1)(2k+1)c)+f((k+1)c). \begin{aligned} & 2kb - f(b) + f((k+1)[(k+2)c + f(c)]) \\ & 2k(b + (k+1)(2k+1)c) - f(b + (k+1)(2k+1)c) + f((k+1)c). \end{aligned}
Take x=(k+1)b,y=bx = (k+1)b, y = b in original equation
f((k+2)b+f(b))=2k(k+1)b,∀b∈R+(2) f((k+2)b + f(b)) = 2k(k+1)b, \quad \forall b \in \mathbb{R}^+ \quad (2)
Apply the same trick, we use double counting to obtain the result, again. First, set x=b,(k+2)c+f(c)x = b, (k+2)c + f(c) in original equation, then
e=2kb−f(b)+f((k+1)[(k+2)c+f(c)]) e = 2kb - f(b) + f((k+1)[(k+2)c + f(c)])
where e=f(b+(k+2)c+f(c)+2k(k+1)c)e = f(b + (k + 2)c + f(c) + 2k(k + 1)c).
Second, set x=b+(k+1)(2k+1)cx = b + (k + 1)(2k + 1)c, y=cy = c, we have
e=2k(b+(k+1)(2k+1)c)−f(b+(k+1)(2k+1)c)+f((k+1)c). e = 2k(b + (k + 1)(2k + 1)c) - f(b + (k + 1)(2k + 1)c) + f((k + 1)c).
Those equalities implies our statement.

Step 3: ∀b,c∈R+\forall b, c \in \mathbb{R}^+, f(b+c)=f(b)+kcf(b+c) = f(b) + kc holds.
Rewrite the identity in Step 2, we know
f(b+(k+1)(2k+1)c)+f((k+1)[(k+2)c+f(c)])−f((k+1)c)=f(b)+2k(k+1)(2k+1)c \begin{aligned} & f(b + (k + 1)(2k + 1)c) + f((k + 1)[(k + 2)c + f(c)]) - f((k + 1)c) \\ &= f(b) + 2k(k + 1)(2k + 1)c \end{aligned}
Furthermore, by using Eq. (1) we find
f((k+1)[(k+2)c+f(c)])−f((k+1)c)=k(f((k+2)c+f(c))+(k+2)c+f(c)−f(c)−c)=k(k+1)(2k+1)c. \begin{aligned} & f((k + 1)[(k + 2)c + f(c)]) - f((k + 1)c) \\ &= k(f((k + 2)c + f(c)) + (k + 2)c + f(c) - f(c) - c) \\ &= k(k + 1)(2k + 1)c. \end{aligned}
Thus, the previous equation becomes
f(b+(k+1)(2k+1)c)=f(b)+k(k+1)(2k+1)c, f(b + (k + 1)(2k + 1)c) = f(b) + k(k + 1)(2k + 1)c,
which means f(b+c)=f(b)+kcf(b+c) = f(b) + kc holds.

Step 4: f(a)=ka∀a∈R+f(a) = ka \forall a \in \mathbb{R}^+.
Note that f(b)+kc=f(b+c)=f(c)+kbf(b)+kc = f(b+c) = f(c)+kb for all b,c∈R+b, c \in \mathbb{R}^+.
As the result, f(a)−kaf(a) - ka is a constant. Suppose f(x)=kx+lf(x) = kx + l for some l∈Rl \in \mathbb{R}, then
LHS=f(x+(k+1)y+l)=kx+k(k+1)y+(k+1)l \text{LHS} = f(x + (k + 1)y + l) = kx + k(k + 1)y + (k + 1)l
RHS=kx+k(k+1)y. \text{RHS} = kx + k(k + 1)y.
So l=0l = 0, and the problem is solved.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement translated into English from zh; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.