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Algebra Difficulty 6.4 National olympiad Prove it Saudi Arabia

Find all functions f:RRf: \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R} satisfying the conditions:
1. f(x+1)f(x)+1f(x+1) \geq f(x)+1 for all xRx \in \mathbb{R};
2. f(xy)f(x)f(y)f(x y) \geq f(x) f(y) for all x,yRx, y \in \mathbb{R}.

Solution

Let x=yx = y in (2), we have f(x2)f2(x)0f\left(x^{2}\right) \geq f^{2}(x) \geq 0. This implies that f(x)0f(x) \geq 0 for all x0x \geq 0.

Let x=0x = 0 in (1), we have f(1)f(0)+11f(1) \geq f(0) + 1 \geq 1.

Let x=y=1x = y = 1 in (1), we have f(1)f2(1)f(1) \geq f^{2}(1), i.e., 0f(1)10 \leq f(1) \leq 1. These inequalities imply that f(1)=1f(1) = 1, and hence f(0)=0f(0) = 0.

From (1) and (2), by induction, we have
f(x+n)f(x)+n(*) f(x+n) \geq f(x) + n \tag{*}
for all xRx \in \mathbb{R}, nNn \in \mathbb{N}, and
f(xn)fn(x)(**) f\left(x^{n}\right) \geq f^{n}(x) \tag{**}
for all x0x \geq 0 and nNn \in \mathbb{N}^{*}.

Using ()(*), for each x>0x > 0, we have
f(x)=f({x}+x)f({x})+xx>x1. f(x) = f(\{x\} + \lfloor x \rfloor) \geq f(\{x\}) + \lfloor x \rfloor \geq \lfloor x \rfloor > x - 1.
From ()(**) and (2), for each x>1x > 1 and nNn \in \mathbb{N}^{*}, we have
(xn1)fn(1x)f(xn)f(1xn)f(1)=1. \left(x^{n} - 1\right) f^{n}\left(\frac{1}{x}\right) \leq f\left(x^{n}\right) f\left(\frac{1}{x^{n}}\right) \leq f(1) = 1.
Hence,
f(1x)1xn1n f\left(\frac{1}{x}\right) \leq \frac{1}{\sqrt[n]{x^{n} - 1}}
for all x>1x > 1, nNn \in \mathbb{N}^{*}. Fix x>1x > 1 and let n+n \rightarrow +\infty, we obtain f(1x)1xf\left(\frac{1}{x}\right) \leq \frac{1}{x}, or (note that f(0)=0f(0) = 0 and f(1)=1f(1) = 1),
f(x)x f(x) \leq x
for x[0,1]x \in [0, 1].

On the other hand, we can prove by induction from (1) that
f(xn)f(x)n f(x-n) \leq f(x) - n
for nNn \in \mathbb{N}. For each x<0x < 0, we have x<0\lfloor x \rfloor < 0 so
f(x)=f({x}+x)f({x})+x{x}+x=x. f(x) = f(\{x\} + \lfloor x \rfloor) \leq f(\{x\}) + \lfloor x \rfloor \leq \{x\} + \lfloor x \rfloor = x.
In (2), set x=y=tx = y = t with t[1,0]t \in [-1, 0] then
f2(t)f(t2)t2 f^{2}(t) \leq f\left(t^{2}\right) \leq t^{2}
This implies that tf(t)tt \leq f(t) \leq -t. Hence, f(t)=tf(t) = t for all t[1,0]t \in [-1, 0].

Now, for each x<1x < -1, we have
1x2f2(x)=f2(x)f2(1x)f(x2)f(1x2)f(1)=1 \frac{1}{x^{2}} f^{2}(x) = f^{2}(x) f^{2}\left(\frac{1}{x}\right) \leq f\left(x^{2}\right) f\left(\frac{1}{x^{2}}\right) \leq f(1) = 1
so f2(x)x2f^{2}(x) \leq x^{2}, implying that xf(x)xx \leq f(x) \leq -x. So f(x)=xf(x) = x for all x0x \leq 0.

Let y=1y = -1 in (2) and consider x>0x > 0, we have
x=f(x)f(x)f(1)=f(x) -x = f(-x) \geq f(x) f(-1) = -f(x)
implying f(x)xf(x) \geq x for all x>0x > 0. Hence, we have f(x)=xf(x) = x for all x(0,1)x \in (0, 1).

Finally, suppose that x>1x > 1, we have
1xf(x)=f(x)f(1x)f(1)=1 \frac{1}{x} f(x) = f(x) f\left(\frac{1}{x}\right) \leq f(1) = 1
so f(x)xf(x) \leq x. Since f(x)xf(x) \geq x, we have f(x)=xf(x) = x for all x>1x > 1.

Inclusion, f(x)=xf(x) = x for every xx is the only function satisfying given conditions.

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