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Algebra Difficulty 6.3 National Olympiad Prove it Estonia

Denote by fn(x)f^n(x) the result of applying the function ff nn times to xx (e.g. f1(x)=f(x)f^1(x) = f(x), f2(x)=f(f(x))f^2(x) = f(f(x)), f3(x)=f(f(f(x)))f^3(x) = f(f(f(x))) etc). Find all functions from real numbers to real numbers which satisfy fd(x)=2015xf^d(x) = 2015 - x for all divisors dd of 20152015, which are greater than 11, and for all real xx.

Solution

Since 55 is a divisor of 20152015, we have for any real zz:
f25(z)=f5(f5(f5(f5(z))))=2015f5(f5(f5(f5(z))))=2015(2015f5(f5(f5(z))))=f5(f5(f5(z)))==f5(z)=2015z. \begin{aligned} f^{25}(z) &= f^5(f^5(f^5(f^5(z)))) = 2015 - f^5(f^5(f^5(f^5(z)))) \\ &= 2015 - (2015 - f^5(f^5(f^5(z)))) = f^5(f^5(f^5(z))) = \dots = f^5(z) = 2015 - z. \end{aligned}
Since 1313 is also a divisor of 20152015, we have for any real zz:
f26(z)=f13(f13(z))=2015f13(z)=2015(2015z)=z. f^{26}(z) = f^{13}(f^{13}(z)) = 2015 - f^{13}(z) = 2015 - (2015 - z) = z.
Consequently z=f26(z)=f(f25(z))=f(2015z)z = f^{26}(z) = f(f^{25}(z)) = f(2015 - z). Any real number xx can be written as 2015z2015 - z for z=2015xz = 2015 - x. Hence z=f(2015z)z = f(2015 - z) implies f(x)=2015xf(x) = 2015 - x for any real xx.

Finally check that the function f(x)=2015xf(x) = 2015 - x satisfies the conditions of the problem. Let dd be a divisor of 20152015 greater than 11. Then dd is odd, i.e. d=2c+1d = 2c + 1 for a positive integer cc. Since f2(x)=2015(2015x)=xf^2(x) = 2015 - (2015 - x) = x, we have f2c(x)=f2(f2(f2(x)))=xf^{2c}(x) = f^2(f^2(\dots f^2(x)\dots)) = x, which implies fd(x)=f(f2c(x))=f(x)=2015xf^d(x) = f(f^{2c}(x)) = f(x) = 2015 - x.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.