Maths Olympiad Prep

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Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Canada

Problem:
Determine all functions ff defined on the set of rationals that take rational values for which
f(2f(x)+f(y))=2x+y f(2 f(x)+f(y))=2 x+y
for each xx and yy.

Solutions — 2

Solution 1

Solution:
The only solutions are f(x)=xf(x)=x for all rational xx and f(x)=xf(x)=-x for all rational xx. Both of these readily check out.

Setting y=xy=x yields f(3f(x))=3xf(3 f(x))=3 x for all rational xx. Now replacing xx by 3f(x)3 f(x), we find that
f(9x)=f(3f(3f(x)))=3[3f(x)]=9f(x), f(9 x)=f(3 f(3 f(x)))=3[3 f(x)]=9 f(x),
for all rational xx. Setting x=0x=0 yields f(0)=9f(0)f(0)=9 f(0), whence f(0)=0f(0)=0.

Setting x=0x=0 in the given functional equation yields f(f(y))=yf(f(y))=y for all rational yy. Thus ff is one-one onto. Applying ff to the functional equation yields that
2f(x)+f(y)=f(2x+y) 2 f(x)+f(y)=f(2 x+y)
for every rational pair (x,y)(x, y).

Setting y=0y=0 in the functional equation yields f(2f(x))=2xf(2 f(x))=2 x, whence 2f(x)=f(2x)2 f(x)=f(2 x). Therefore f(2x)+f(y)=f(2x+y)f(2 x)+f(y)=f(2 x+y) for each rational pair (x,y)(x, y), so that
f(u+v)=f(u)+f(v) f(u+v)=f(u)+f(v)
for each rational pair (u,v)(u, v).

Since 0=f(0)=f(1)+f(1)0=f(0)=f(-1)+f(1), f(1)=f(1)f(-1)=-f(1). By induction, it can be established that for each integer nn and rational xx, f(nx)=nf(x)f(n x)=n f(x). If k=f(1)k=f(1), we can establish from this that f(n)=nkf(n)=n k, f(1/n)=k/nf(1 / n)=k / n and f(m/n)=mk/nf(m / n)=m k / n for each integer pair (m,n)(m, n). Thus f(x)=kxf(x)=k x for all rational xx. Since f(f(x))=xf(f(x))=x, we must have k2=1k^2=1. Hence f(x)=xf(x)=x or f(x)=xf(x)=-x. These check out.

Solution 2

Solution:
In the functional equation, let
x=y=2f(z)+f(w) x=y=2 f(z)+f(w)
to obtain f(x)=f(y)=2z+wf(x)=f(y)=2 z+w and
f(6z+3w)=6f(z)+3f(w) f(6 z+3 w)=6 f(z)+3 f(w)
for all rational pairs (z,w)(z, w). Set (z,w)=(0,0)(z, w)=(0,0) to obtain f(0)=0f(0)=0, w=0w=0 to obtain f(6z)=6f(z)f(6 z)=6 f(z) and z=0z=0 to obtain f(3w)=3f(w)f(3 w)=3 f(w) for all rationals zz and ww. Hence f(6z+3w)=f(6z)+f(3w)f(6 z+3 w)=f(6 z)+f(3 w). Replacing (6z,3w)(6 z, 3 w) by (u,v)(u, v) yields
f(u+v)=f(u)+f(v) f(u+v)=f(u)+f(v)
for all rational pairs (u,v)(u, v). Hence f(x)=kxf(x)=k x where k=f(1)k=f(1) for all rational xx. Substitution of this into the functional equation with (x,y)=(1,1)(x, y)=(1,1) leads to 3=f(3f(1))=f(3k)=3k23=f(3 f(1))=f(3 k)=3 k^2, so that k=±1k= \pm 1. It can be checked that both f(x)xf(x) \equiv x and f(x)xf(x) \equiv -x satisfy the equation.

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