Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /19 of 33

Algebra Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Turkey

Find all surjective functions f:RRf: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} satisfying
f(xf(y)+y2)=f((x+y)2)xf(x) f(xf(y) + y^2) = f((x+y)^2) - x f(x)
for all real numbers x,yx, y.

Solution

f(x)=2xf(x) = 2x, xRx \in \mathbb{R} is the only solution. Assume that there exists a real number c0c \neq 0 such that c=f(z)2zc = f(z) - 2z for some zz. Let P(x,y)P(x, y) be the assertion of the given equation.
P(f(y)2y,y)(f(y)2y)f(f(y)2y)=0,y. P(f(y) - 2y, y) \rightarrow (f(y) - 2y) f(f(y) - 2y) = 0, \forall y.
This shows that f(c)=0f(c) = 0. Since 2c=f(c)2c0-2c = f(c) - 2c \neq 0, we also obtain that f(2c)=0f(-2c) = 0.
P(x,c)f(c2)=f((x+c)2)xf(x),P(x,2c)f(4c2)=f((x2c)2)xf(x),P(c,c)f(c2)=f(4c2). \begin{align*} P(x, c) &\rightarrow f(c^2) = f((x+c)^2) - x f(x), \\ P(x, -2c) &\rightarrow f(4c^2) = f((x-2c)^2) - x f(x), \\ P(c, c) &\rightarrow f(c^2) = f(4c^2). \end{align*}
Therefore, we obtain that f((x+c)2)=f((x2c)2)f((x+c)^2) = f((x-2c)^2). (1)
P(x2c,c)f(c2)=f((xc)2)(x2c)f(x2c),P(x+c,2c)f(4c2)=f((xc)2)(x+c)f(x+c). \begin{align*} P(x - 2c, c) &\rightarrow f(c^2) = f((x-c)^2) - (x-2c)f(x-2c), \\ P(x + c, -2c) &\rightarrow f(4c^2) = f((x-c)^2) - (x+c)f(x+c). \end{align*}
Hence, we conclude that (x2c)f(x2c)=(x+c)f(x+c)(x-2c)f(x-2c) = (x+c)f(x+c). (2)
Now for all xx and yy
P(x+c,y)f(xf(y)+y2+cf(y))=f((x+y+c)2)(x+c)f(x+c) P(x+c, y) \rightarrow f(xf(y) + y^2 + cf(y)) = f((x+y+c)^2) - (x+c)f(x+c)
P(x2c,y)f(xf(y)+y22cf(y))=f((x+y2c)2)(x2c)f(x2c) P(x-2c, y) \rightarrow f(xf(y) + y^2 - 2cf(y)) = f((x+y-2c)^2) - (x-2c)f(x-2c)
Using (1) and (2), we get
f(xf(y)+y2+cf(y))=f(xf(y)+y22cf(y)). f(xf(y) + y^2 + cf(y)) = f(xf(y) + y^2 - 2cf(y)).
Since the function is surjective, for any two real numbers uvu \neq v, there exist two real numbers x,yx, y such that
f(y)=uv3c0,x=uy2cf(y)f(y) f(y) = \frac{u-v}{3c} \neq 0, \quad x = \frac{u-y^2-cf(y)}{f(y)}
This means that f(u)=f(v)f(u) = f(v) for any uvu \neq v, and ff is constant which is not possible since it is surjective. Therefore such a cc does not exist and f(x)=2xf(x) = 2x, xRx \in \mathbb{R}. This function satisfies the equation:

f(xf(y) + y^2) = 4xy + 2y^2 = 2(x+y)^2 - 2x^2 = f((x+y)^2) - x f(x).

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.