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Algebra Difficulty 6.2 National olympiad Prove it Brazil

Let RR be the set of real numbers. Show that there are no functions f,g:RRf, g: R \to R such that g(f(x))=x3g(f(x)) = x^3 and f(g(x))=x2f(g(x)) = x^2 for all xx. Let SS be the set of all real numbers greater than 11. Show that there are functions f,g:SSf, g: S \to S satisfying the condition above.

Solution

First of all, since g(f(x))=x3g(f(x)) = x^3 and x3x^3 is injective, ff is injective. Indeed,
f(x)=f(y)    g(f(x))=g(f(y))    x3=y3    x=yf(x) = f(y) \implies g(f(x)) = g(f(y)) \iff x^3 = y^3 \iff x = y. Plugging
f(x)f(x) in f(g(x))=x2f(g(x)) = x^2, we obtain f(g(f(x)))=f(x)2    f(x3)=f(x)2f(g(f(x))) = f(x)^2 \iff f(x^3) = f(x)^2. If
f,g:RRf, g: R \to R, consider x=1,0,1x = -1, 0, 1 (i.e., the roots of x3=xx^3 = x): f(1)=f(1)2f(-1) = f(-1)^2,
f(0)=f(0)2f(0) = f(0)^2 and f(1)=f(1)2f(1) = f(1)^2, so {f(1),f(0),f(1)}{0,1}\{f(-1), f(0), f(1)\} \subset \{0, 1\}, which
contradicts the fact that ff is injective. So in this case there are no such
functions f,gf, g.

If f,g:SSf, g: S \to S, consider f(x3)=(f(x))2f(x^3) = (f(x))^2 and g(f(g(x)))=(g(x))3    g(f(g(x))) = (g(x))^3 \iff
g(x2)=(g(x))3g(x^2) = (g(x))^3. Applying these two identities nn times we obtain f(x3n)=f(x^{3^n}) =
(f(x))2n(f(x))^{2^n} and g(x2n)=(g(x))3ng(x^{2^n}) = (g(x))^{3^n}. In particular, f(23n)=(f(2))2nf(2^{3^n}) = (f(2))^{2^n} and
g(22n)=(g(2))3ng(2^{2^n}) = (g(2))^{3^n}. Extend these identities for all nn real. We have x=x =
23n    n=log32log2x2^{3^n} \iff n = \log_3 2 \log_2 x and x=22n    n=log2log2xx = 2^{2^n} \iff n = \log_2 \log_2 x. This means
that f(x)=a2log32log2xf(x) = a^{2^{\log_3 2 \log_2 x}} and g(x)=b2log22log2xg(x) = b^{2^{\log_2 2 \log_2 x}}. For the sake of simplicity, write all
equations in base 22: f(x)=22log32log2log2x+kf(x) = 2^{2^{\log_3 2 \log_2 \log_2 x+k}} and g(x)=22log23log2log2x+g(x) = 2^{2^{\log_2 3 \log_2 \log_2 x+\ell}}.
Now substitute in the original equations:
f(g(x))=f(22log23log2log2x+)=22log32log2log222log23log2log2x++k=22log32(log23log2log2x+)+k=22log2log2x+log32+k=22log2log2x2log32+k=(22log2log2x)2log32+k=x2log32+k \begin{align*} f(g(x)) &= f(2^{2^{\log_2 3 \log_2 \log_2 x + \ell}}) = 2^{2^{\log_3 2 \log_2 \log_2 2^{2^{\log_2 3 \log_2 \log_2 x + \ell}}}+ k} = 2^{2^{\log_3 2 \cdot (\log_2 3 \log_2 \log_2 x + \ell) + k}} \\ &= 2^{2^{\log_2 \log_2 x + \ell} \log_3 2 + k} = 2^{2^{\log_2 \log_2 x} \cdot 2^{\ell} \log_3 2 + k} = (2^{2^{\log_2 \log_2 x}})^{2^{\ell} \log_3 2 + k} = x^{2^{\ell} \log_3 2 + k} \end{align*}
so 2log32+k=2    log32+k=1. \text{so } 2^{\ell \log_3 2+k} = 2 \iff \ell \log_3 2 + k = 1.
g(f(x))=g(22log32log2log2x+k)=22log23log2log222log32log2log2x+k+=22log23(log32log2log2x+k)+=22log2log2x+klog23+=22log2log2x2klog23+=(22log2log2x)2klog23+=x2klog23+ \begin{align*} g(f(x)) &= g(2^{2^{\log_3 2 \log_2 \log_2 x+k}}) = 2^{2^{\log_2 3 \log_2 \log_2 2^{2^{\log_3 2 \log_2 \log_2 x+k}}}+ \ell} = 2^{2^{\log_2 3 \cdot (\log_3 2 \log_2 \log_2 x+k) + \ell}} \\ &= 2^{2^{\log_2 \log_2 x+k} \log_2 3+\ell} = 2^{2^{\log_2 \log_2 x} \cdot 2^k \log_2 3+\ell} = (2^{2^{\log_2 \log_2 x}})^{2^k \log_2 3+\ell} = x^{2^k \log_2 3+\ell} \end{align*}
so 2klog23+=3    klog23+=log23. \text{so } 2^{k \log_2 3 + \ell} = 3 \iff k \log_2 3 + \ell = \log_2 3.
It is clear that both ff and gg are well defined in SS and that it's possible to
choose kk and \ell (for example, k=1k=1 and =0\ell=0), so such functions do exist.

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