Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /17 of 32

Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Estonia

Find all functions f:RRf: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} such that, for every real number aa, the function g(x)=f(x+a)g(x) = f(x + a) is either an even or odd function.

Solution

Denote f(0)=cf(0) = c. We show that f(x)=cf(x) = c for every real number xx. Fix a real number aa arbitrarily; by assumption, the function g(x)=f(x+a2)g(x) = f(x + \frac{a}{2}) is either an even or odd function. If this gg is even then
f(a)=f(a2+a2)=g(a2)=g(a2)=f(a2+a2)=f(0)=c. f(a) = f\left(\frac{a}{2} + \frac{a}{2}\right) = g\left(\frac{a}{2}\right) = g\left(-\frac{a}{2}\right) = f\left(-\frac{a}{2} + \frac{a}{2}\right) = f(0) = c.
Analogously in the case of odd gg we obtain
f(a)=f(a2+a2)=g(a2)=g(a2)=f(a2+a2)=f(0)=c. f(a) = f\left(\frac{a}{2} + \frac{a}{2}\right) = g\left(\frac{a}{2}\right) = -g\left(-\frac{a}{2}\right) = -f\left(-\frac{a}{2} + \frac{a}{2}\right) = -f(0) = -c.
Thus if gg defined as in the problem is even for all choices of aa then f(x)=cf(x) = c for every real number xx. If g(x)=f(x+a)g(x) = f(x + a) is an odd function for some aa then f(a)=f(0+a)=g(0)=0f(a) = f(0 + a) = g(0) = 0. But by the above, f(a)=cf(a) = c or f(a)=cf(a) = -c; hence c=0c = 0. This implies that, for every real number xx, f(x)=0=cf(x) = 0 = c.
On the other hand, if ff is a constant function then g(x)=f(x+a)g(x) = f(x + a) is the same constant function for every aa. Constant functions are even. Hence constant functions satisfy the conditions of the problem.

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 reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.