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Algebra Difficulty 6.1 National olympiad Prove it Romania

Let nNn \in \mathbb{N}^*. Determine all functions f:RRf : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} that satisfy:
f(x+y2n)=f(f(x))+y2n1f(y), f(x + y^{2n}) = f(f(x)) + y^{2n-1}f(y),
for all x,yRx, y \in \mathbb{R}, and for which the equation f(x)=0f(x) = 0 has a unique solution.

Solution

For y=0y = 0, the given relation reduces to f(x)=f(f(x))f(x) = f(f(x)), which means that the given relation becomes:
f(x+y2n)=f(x)+y2n1f(y),x,yR.(1) f(x + y^{2n}) = f(x) + y^{2n-1}f(y), \quad \forall x, y \in \mathbb{R}. \qquad (1)
If we consider x=0x = 0 and y=1y = 1 in (1), then f(0)=0f(0) = 0. Since the equation f(x)=0f(x) = 0 has a unique solution, we have the implication:
f(x)=0x=0.(2) f(x) = 0 \Rightarrow x = 0. \qquad (2)
Putting x=0x = 0 in (1), we obtain f(y2n)=y2n1f(y)f(y^{2n}) = y^{2n-1}f(y), for all yRy \in \mathbb{R}, which means that relation (1) rewrites as:
f(x+y2n)=f(x)+f(y2n),x,yR.(3) f(x + y^{2n}) = f(x) + f(y^{2n}), \quad \forall x, y \in \mathbb{R}. \qquad (3)
Moreover, y2n1f(y)=f(y2n)=f((y)2n)=y2n1f(y)y^{2n-1}f(y) = f(y^{2n}) = f((-y)^{2n}) = -y^{2n-1}f(-y), for all yRy \in \mathbb{R}, so ff is an odd function. Considering t=y2n0t = \sqrt[2n]{y} \ge 0, relation (3) becomes:
f(x+t)=f(x)+f(t),xR,t0.(4) f(x + t) = f(x) + f(t), \quad \forall x \in \mathbb{R}, t \ge 0. \qquad (4)

Using the fact that ff is odd, for t<0t < 0, we obtain:
f(x+t)=f(xt)=(f(x)+f(t))=f(x)+f(t), f(x + t) = -f(-x - t) = -(f(-x) + f(-t)) = f(x) + f(t),
which, together with relation (4), implies:
f(x+t)=f(x)+f(t),x,tR.(5) f(x + t) = f(x) + f(t), \quad \forall x, t \in \mathbb{R}. \qquad (5)
If f(x1)=f(x2)f(x_1) = f(x_2), according to relation (5), we have f(x1x2)=0f(x_1 - x_2) = 0, which, according to relation (2), implies x1=x2x_1 = x_2, meaning ff is one-to-one. But since f(f(x))=f(x)f(f(x)) = f(x), we have f(x)=xf(x) = x, which is a solution to the given equation.

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