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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it United States

Problem:

How many functions f:ZRf: \mathbb{Z} \rightarrow \mathbb{R} satisfy the following three properties?
(a) f(1)=1f(1)=1;
(b) For all m,nZm, n \in \mathbb{Z}, f(m)2f(n)2=f(m+n)f(mn)f(m)^2 - f(n)^2 = f(m+n) f(m-n);
(c) For all nZn \in \mathbb{Z}, f(n)=f(n+2013)f(n) = f(n+2013).

Solution

Solution:

By plugging m=n=0m=n=0 into (b) we easily get f(0)=0f(0)=0. For any uZu \in \mathbb{Z}, we have
f(u+1)2f(u1)2=f(2u)f(2)f(u+1)2f(u)2=f(2u+1)f(1)=f(2u+1)f(u)2f(u1)2=f(2u1)f(1)=f(2u1) \begin{aligned} f(u+1)^2 - f(u-1)^2 & = f(2u) f(2) \\ f(u+1)^2 - f(u)^2 & = f(2u+1) f(1) = f(2u+1) \\ f(u)^2 - f(u-1)^2 & = f(2u-1) f(1) = f(2u-1) \end{aligned}
whence
f(2u)f(2)=f(2u+1)+f(2u1). f(2u) f(2) = f(2u+1) + f(2u-1) .
We would like to conclude that
f(n+1)+f(n1)=f(2)f(n) f(n+1) + f(n-1) = f(2) f(n)
for all nZn \in \mathbb{Z}. This is indubitable if nn is even; otherwise we may use (c) and the fact that n+2013n+2013 is even.
For any given value of t=f(2)t = f(2), there is a unique function ff satisfying the recursive definition
f(1)=1,f(2)=t,f(n+1)+f(n1)=tf(n). f(1) = 1, \quad f(2) = t, \quad f(n+1) + f(n-1) = t f(n) .
If t±2t \neq \pm 2, this solution is given by
f(n)=λ1nλ2nλ1λ2 where λ1,2C are the roots of λ2tλ+1=0 f(n) = \frac{\lambda_1^n - \lambda_2^n}{\lambda_1 - \lambda_2} \quad \text{ where } \lambda_{1,2} \in \mathbb{C} \text{ are the roots of } \lambda^2 - t \lambda + 1 = 0
Those familiar with the theory of linear recurrences will know a heuristic derivation of this formula. For our purposes it suffices to note that this function ff does indeed satisfy definition (3) and in fact the condition (b) as well; thus the problem is to find out how many values of tt cause condition (c) to hold.
If t=±2t = \pm 2, the solution (4) is invalid due to the fact that λ1=λ2\lambda_1 = \lambda_2. In these cases the corresponding functions ff satisfying (3) are f(n)=nf(n) = n and f(n)=(1)n+1nf(n) = (-1)^{n+1} n, both of which fail condition (c) and hence can be discarded.
From the condition f(2013)=f(0)=0f(2013) = f(0) = 0, we derive that λ12013=λ22013=λ12013\lambda_1^{2013} = \lambda_2^{2013} = \lambda_1^{-2013}, so λ14026=1\lambda_1^{4026} = 1. We must have λ2013=1\lambda^{2013} = 1 or λ2013=1\lambda^{2013} = -1. If the latter holds, then from f(2014)=f(1)f(2014) = f(1) we get
λ12014λ22014=λ1λ2λ1λ12013λ2λ22013=λ1λ2λ1+λ2=λ1λ2λ1=λ2, \begin{aligned} \lambda_1^{2014} - \lambda_2^{2014} & = \lambda_1 - \lambda_2 \\ \lambda_1 \cdot \lambda_1^{2013} - \lambda_2 \cdot \lambda_2^{2013} & = \lambda_1 - \lambda_2 \\ -\lambda_1 + \lambda_2 & = \lambda_1 - \lambda_2 \\ \lambda_1 & = \lambda_2, \end{aligned}
a contradiction. So λ1\lambda_1, and hence its reciprocal λ2\lambda_2, are 2013th roots of unity, a condition that is clearly sufficient to imply (c).
The trivial root λ1=λ2=1\lambda_1 = \lambda_2 = 1 must be discarded. The remaining roots come in 1006 conjugate pairs yielding 1006 distinct real values of tt. We conclude that there are 1006 such functions ff.

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