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Algebra Difficulty 5.8 AIME, harder Prove it Estonia

A function ff maps every positive real number to a positive real number. There is a constant c1c \neq 1 such that f(cx)2=f(x)f(c2x)f(cx)^2 = f(x)f(c^2x) for all positive real numbers xx. Must the same equality hold for any positive real numbers cc and xx?

Solution

Answer: No.

Solution 1: Let f(x)=esinlnxf(x) = e^{\sin \ln x}. Then
(f(cx))2=(esinln(cx))2=e2sin(lncx+lnc),f(x)f(c2x)=esinlnxesinln(c2x)=esinlnx+sin(lnx+2lnc). (f(cx))^2 = (e^{\sin \ln(cx)})^2 = e^{2\sin(\ln cx + \ln c)}, \\ f(x)f(c^2x) = e^{\sin \ln x} \cdot e^{\sin \ln(c^2x)} = e^{\sin \ln x + \sin(\ln x + 2\ln c)}.
Taking c=e2πc = e^{2\pi}, we get
2sin(lnx+lnc)=2sin(lnx+2π)=2sinlnx=sinlnx+sinlnx=sinlnx+sin(lnx+4π)=sinlnx+sin(lnx+2lnc), \begin{aligned} 2 \sin (\ln x + \ln c) &= 2 \sin (\ln x + 2\pi) = 2 \sin \ln x = \sin \ln x + \sin \ln x \\ &= \sin \ln x + \sin (\ln x + 4\pi) \\ &= \sin \ln x + \sin (\ln x + 2\ln c), \end{aligned}
so the desired condition is satisfied. However, taking c=eπ/2c = e^{\pi/2} and x=1x = 1, we obtain 2sin(ln1+lneπ/2)=2sin(π/2)=22\sin(\ln 1 + \ln e^{\pi/2}) = 2\sin(\pi/2) = 2, whereas sinln1+sin(ln1+2lneπ/2)=sin0+sinπ=0\sin \ln 1 + \sin(\ln 1 + 2\ln e^{\pi/2}) = \sin 0 + \sin \pi = 0. Hence the equality does not hold for c=eπ/2c = e^{\pi/2} and x=1x = 1.

Solution 2: Let
f(x)={2,if x is rational,1,if x is irrational. f(x) = \begin{cases} 2, & \text{if } x \text{ is rational}, \\ 1, & \text{if } x \text{ is irrational}. \end{cases}
For all positive rational cc we have f(cx)=f(x)f(cx) = f(x), as xx and cxcx are either both rational or both irrational. So (f(cx))2=(f(x))2(f(cx))^2 = (f(x))^2 and f(x)f(c2x)=f(x)f(cx)=(f(x))2f(x)f(c^2x) = f(x)f(cx) = (f(x))^2. Hence the desired equality holds for all positive rational cc. However, taking c=2c = \sqrt{2} and x=1x = 1, we obtain f(cx)=f(2)=1f(cx) = f(\sqrt{2}) = 1, whereas f(x)f(c2x)=f(1)f(2)=22=4f(x)f(c^2x) = f(1)f(2) = 2 \cdot 2 = 4. So the equality does not hold.

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