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Algebra Difficulty 8.8 Shortlist Prove it IMO

Let N\mathbb{N} be the set of all positive integers. Find all functions f:NNf: \mathbb{N} \rightarrow \mathbb{N} such that the number (f(m)+n)(m+f(n))(f(m)+n)(m+f(n)) is a square for all m,nNm, n \in \mathbb{N}.
(U.S.A.)

Solution

First, it is clear that all functions of the form f(n)=n+cf(n)=n+c with a constant nonnegative integer cc satisfy the problem conditions since (f(m)+n)(f(n)+m)=(n+m+c)2(f(m)+n)(f(n)+m)=(n+m+c)^{2} is a square.

We are left to prove that there are no other functions. We start with the following Lemma. Suppose that pf(k)f()p \mid f(k)-f(\ell) for some prime pp and positive integers k,k, \ell. Then pkp \mid k-\ell.

Proof. Suppose first that p2f(k)f()p^{2} \mid f(k)-f(\ell), so f()=f(k)+p2af(\ell)=f(k)+p^{2} a for some integer aa. Take some positive integer D>max{f(k),f()}D>\max \{f(k), f(\ell)\} which is not divisible by pp and set n=pDf(k)n=p D-f(k). Then the positive numbers n+f(k)=pDn+f(k)=p D and n+f()=pD+(f()f(k))=p(D+pa)n+f(\ell)=p D+(f(\ell)-f(k))=p(D+p a) are both divisible by pp but not by p2p^{2}. Now, applying the problem conditions, we get that both the numbers (f(k)+n)(f(n)+k)(f(k)+n)(f(n)+k) and (f()+n)(f(n)+)(f(\ell)+n)(f(n)+\ell) are squares divisible by pp (and thus by p2p^{2} ); this means that the multipliers f(n)+kf(n)+k and f(n)+f(n)+\ell are also divisible by pp, therefore p(f(n)+k)(f(n)+)=kp \mid(f(n)+k)-(f(n)+\ell)=k-\ell as well.

On the other hand, if f(k)f()f(k)-f(\ell) is divisible by pp but not by p2p^{2}, then choose the same number DD and set n=p3Df(k)n=p^{3} D-f(k). Then the positive numbers f(k)+n=p3Df(k)+n=p^{3} D and f()+n=p3D+(f()f(k))f(\ell)+n= p^{3} D+(f(\ell)-f(k)) are respectively divisible by p3p^{3} (but not by p4p^{4} ) and by pp (but not by p2p^{2} ). Hence in analogous way we obtain that the numbers f(n)+kf(n)+k and f(n)+f(n)+\ell are divisible by pp, therefore p(f(n)+k)(f(n)+)=kp \mid(f(n)+k)-(f(n)+\ell)=k-\ell.

We turn to the problem. First, suppose that f(k)=f()f(k)=f(\ell) for some k,Nk, \ell \in \mathbb{N}. Then by Lemma we have that kk-\ell is divisible by every prime number, so k=0k-\ell=0, or k=k=\ell. Therefore, the function ff is injective.

Next, consider the numbers f(k)f(k) and f(k+1)f(k+1). Since the number (k+1)k=1(k+1)-k=1 has no prime divisors, by Lemma the same holds for f(k+1)f(k)f(k+1)-f(k); thus f(k+1)f(k)=1|f(k+1)-f(k)|=1.

Now, let f(2)f(1)=q,q=1f(2)-f(1)=q,|q|=1. Then we prove by induction that f(n)=f(1)+q(n1)f(n)=f(1)+q(n-1). The base for n=1,2n=1,2 holds by the definition of qq. For the step, if n>1n>1 we have f(n+1)=f(n)±q=f(1)+q(n1)±qf(n+1)= f(n) \pm q=f(1)+q(n-1) \pm q. Since f(n)f(n2)=f(1)+q(n2)f(n) \neq f(n-2)=f(1)+q(n-2), we get f(n)=f(1)+qnf(n)=f(1)+q n, as desired.

Finally, we have f(n)=f(1)+q(n1)f(n)=f(1)+q(n-1). Then qq cannot be -1 since otherwise for nf(1)+1n \geq f(1)+1 we have f(n)0f(n) \leq 0 which is impossible. Hence q=1q=1 and f(n)=(f(1)1)+nf(n)=(f(1)-1)+n for each nNn \in \mathbb{N}, and f(1)10f(1)-1 \geq 0, as desired.

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