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Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Saudi Arabia

Find all functions f:R+R+f: \mathbb{R}^+ \to \mathbb{R}^+ satisfying
f(f(xy)+1)=xf(x+f(y)),x,y>0. f(f(xy) + 1) = x f(x + f(y)), \forall x, y > 0.

Solution

First, replace xzyx \to \frac{z}{y} then
f(f(z)+1)=zyf(zy+f(y)),y,z>0.(1) f(f(z) + 1) = \frac{z}{y} f\left(\frac{z}{y} + f(y)\right), \forall y, z > 0. \quad (1)
In (1), continue to set z=1z = 1 and set f(f(1)+1)=cf(f(1) + 1) = c, we have f(1y+f(y))=cyf\left(\frac{1}{y} + f(y)\right) = c y for all y>0y > 0. The right-hand side takes on any values on R+\mathbb{R}^+, so the function f(y)f(y) is surjective on R+\mathbb{R}^+.

Now suppose that there exists 0<y1<y20 < y_1 < y_2 such that f(y1)<f(y2)f(y_1) < f(y_2). We choose z0z_0 such that
z0y1+f(y1)=z0y2+f(y2)    z0=y1y2f(y2)f(y1)y2y1>0. \frac{z_0}{y_1} + f(y_1) = \frac{z_0}{y_2} + f(y_2) \iff z_0 = y_1 y_2 \frac{f(y_2) - f(y_1)}{y_2 - y_1} > 0.
In (1), replace z=z0z = z_0 and let y=y1,y=y2y = y_1, y = y_2 respectively, we have
f(f(z0)+1)=z0y1f(z0y1+f(y1))=z0y2f(z0y2+f(y2)). f(f(z_0) + 1) = \frac{z_0}{y_1} f\left(\frac{z_0}{y_1} + f(y_1)\right) = \frac{z_0}{y_2} f\left(\frac{z_0}{y_2} + f(y_2)\right).
Base on the choice of z0z_0, we have
f(z0y1+f(y1))=f(z0y2+f(y2)), f\left(\frac{z_0}{y_1} + f(y_1)\right) = f\left(\frac{z_0}{y_2} + f(y_2)\right),
it follows that y1=y2y_1 = y_2. This contradiction shows that with 0<y1<y20 < y_1 < y_2, there must be f(y1)f(y2)f(y_1) \ge f(y_2) so ff is a non-increasing function. Thus, ff is both surjective and monotone on R+\mathbb{R}^+ so it will be continuous on R+\mathbb{R}^+. Since ff is continuous and non-increasing, there exists limx+f(x)=c0\lim_{x \to +\infty} f(x) = c \ge 0. However, if c>0c > 0 then f(x)c>0f(x) \ge c > 0, xR+\forall x \in \mathbb{R}^+, which contradicts surjectiveness. Therefore c=0c = 0.

Finally, in the given condition, for each x>0x > 0, given y+y \to +\infty then f(f(xy)+1)f(1)f(f(xy) + 1) \to f(1) and f(x+f(y))f(x)f(x + f(y)) \to f(x). These imply that f(1)=xf(x)f(1) = x f(x) or f(x)=cxf(x) = \frac{c}{x} with c=f(1)>0c = f(1) > 0. It is easy to check that this function satisfies the problem. \square

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.