Olympiad Maths Prep

Library / /14 of 29

Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National olympiad Prove it Iran

Find all functions f:RRf : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} such that for any three real numbers a,b,ca, b, c that satisfy a+f(b)+f(f(c))=0a + f(b) + f(f(c)) = 0, the following equality holds:
f(a)3+bf(b)2+c2f(c)=3abc. f(a)^3 + b f(b)^2 + c^2 f(c) = 3abc.

Solution

The answers are f(x)=xf(x) = x, f(x)=xf(x) = -x and f(x)=0f(x) = 0.

First, let's prove that f(x)f(x) is injective at point 00. Assume there exist two distinct real numbers t1t_1 and t2t_2 such that f(t1)=f(t2)=0f(t_1) = f(t_2) = 0. Comparing P(f(b)f(0),b,t1)P(-f(b) - f(0), b, t_1) and P(f(b)f(0),b,t2)P(-f(b) - f(0), b, t_2) gives us
(f(b)+f(0))bt1=(f(b)+f(0))bt2. (f(b) + f(0)) b t_1 = (f(b) + f(0)) b t_2.
So if f(x)f(x) is not injective at point 00, we have
b0:f(b)=f(0). \Rightarrow \forall b \neq 0 : f(b) = -f(0).
Which gives us f(x)=0f(x) = 0 as an answer.

So if f(x)f(x) is a non-constant function, then it must be injective at point 00.

Now, P(f(0)f(f(0)),0,0)P(-f(0) - f(f(0)), 0, 0) gives us f(f(0)f(f(0)))=0f(-f(0) - f(f(0))) = 0 and we have a real number tt such that f(t)=0f(t) = 0. P(f(f(0)),t,0)P(-f(f(0)), t, 0) gives us
f(f(f(0)))=f(f(0)f(f(0)))=0. f(-f(f(0))) = f(-f(0) - f(f(0))) = 0.
And according to the injectivity at point 00, it follows that f(0)=0f(0) = 0.

Now, P(f(f(b)),b,0)P(-f(f(b)), b, 0) and P(f(f(c)),0,c)P(-f(f(c)), 0, c) give us
f(b)f(f(b))2=b2f(b). f(b) f(f(b))^2 = b^2 f(b).
If b0b \neq 0 then f(b)0f(b) \neq 0 therefore
f(f(b))=±bb0. f(f(b)) = \pm b \quad \forall b \neq 0.
And since f(f(0))=f(0)=0f(f(0)) = f(0) = 0, we have
f(f(b))=±bbR. f(f(b)) = \pm b \quad \forall b \in \mathbb{R}.
If there exists a real number c0c \neq 0 such that f(f(c))=cf(f(c)) = -c, P(c,0,c)P(c, 0, c) gives us
f(c)(f(c)2+c2)=0 f(c)(f(c)^2 + c^2) = 0
which is a contradiction.

So
cR:f(f(c))=c \forall c \in \mathbb{R}: f(f(c)) = c
Now P(a,0,a)P(-a, 0, a) gives us f(a)2+a2f(a)=0f(-a)^2 + a^2 f(a) = 0 and P(a,0,a)P(a, 0, -a) gives us f(a)3+a2f(a)=0f(a)^3 + a^2 f(-a) = 0 and they lead to f(a)=±af(a) = \pm a.

If there exist non-zero real numbers b,cb, c such that f(b)=bf(b) = b and f(c)=cf(c) = -c, P(bc,b,c)P(-b - c, b, c) leads to contradiction. So f(x)=xf(x) = x and f(x)=xf(x) = -x are the only solutions.

f(x)=0f(x) = 0 is also a solution.

Looking for a route rather than an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.