Solution:
We claim that f is a constant function. Suppose, for a contradiction, that there exist x and y with f(x)<f(y); choose x,y such that f(y)−f(x)>0 is minimal. Then
f(x)=x+yxf(x)+yf(x)<x+yxf(y)+yf(x)<x+yxf(y)+yf(y)=f(y)
so f(x)<f(x2+y2)<f(y) and 0<f(x2+y2)−f(x)<f(y)−f(x), contradicting the choice of x and y. Thus, f is a constant function. Since f(0) is in N, the constant must be from N.
Also, for any c in N, xc+yc=(x+y)c for all x and y, so f(x)=c, c∈N are the solutions to the equation.
We claim f is a constant function. Define g(x)=f(x)−f(0). Then g(0)=0, g(x)≥−f(0) and
xg(y)+yg(x)=(x+y)g(x2+y2)
for all x,y in N.
Letting y=0 shows g(x2)=0 (in particular, g(1)=g(4)=0), and letting x=y=1 shows g(2)=0. Also, if x,y and z in N satisfy x2+y2=z2, then
g(y)=−xyg(x).
Letting x=4 and y=3, (∗) shows that g(3)=0.
For any even number x=2n>4, let y=n2−1. Then y>x and x2+y2=(n2+1)2. For any odd number x=2n+1>3, let y=2(n+1)n. Then y>x and x2+y2=((n+1)2+n2)2. Thus for every x>4 there is y>x such that (∗) is satisfied.
Suppose for a contradiction, that there is x>4 with g(x)>0. Then we can construct a
sequence x=x0<x1<x2<… where g(xi+1)=−xixi+1g(xi). It follows that ∣g(xi+1)∣>∣g(xi)∣ and the signs of g(xi) alternate. Since g(x) is always an integer, ∣g(xi+1)∣≥∣g(xi)∣+1. Thus for some sufficiently large value of i, g(xi)<−f(0), a contradiction.
As for Proof 1, we now conclude that the functions that satisfy the given functional equation are f(x)=c, c∈N.
Suppose that W is the set of nonnegative integers and that f:W→W satisfies:
xf(y)+yf(x)=(x+y)f(x2+y2).
We will show that f is a constant function.
Let f(0)=k, and set S={x∣f(x)=k}.
Letting y=0 in (∗) shows that f(x2)=k∀x>0, and so
x2∈S∀x>0
In particular, 1∈S.
Suppose x2+y2=z2. Then yf(x)+xf(y)=(x+y)f(z2)=(x+y)k. Thus,
x∈Siffy∈S
whenever x2+y2 is a perfect square.
For a contradiction, let n be the smallest non-negative integer such that f(2n)=k. By (l) n must be odd, so 2n−1 is an integer. Now 2n−1<n so f(22n−1)=k. Letting x=y=22n−1 in (∗) shows f(2n)=k, a contradiction. Thus every power of 2 is an element of S.
For each integer n≥2 define p(n) to be the largest prime such that p(n)∣n.
Claim: For any integer n>1 that is not a power of 2, there exists a sequence of integers x1,x2,…,xr such that the following conditions hold:
a) x1=n.
b) xi2+xi+12 is a perfect square for each i=1,2,3,…,r−1.
c) p(x1)≥p(x2)≥…≥p(xr)=2.
Proof: Since n is not a power of 2, p(n)=p(x1)≥3. Let p(x1)=2m+1, so n=x1=b(2m+1)a, for some a and b, where p(b)<2m+1.
Case 1: a=1. Since (2m+1,2m2+2m,2m2+2m+1) is a Pythagorean Triple, if x2=b(2m2+2m), then x12+x22=b2(2m2+2m+1)2 is a perfect square. Furthermore, x2=2bm(m+1), and so p(x2)<2m+1=p(x1).
Case 2: a>1. If n=x1=(2m+1)a⋅b, let x2=(2m+1)a−1⋅b⋅(2m2+2m), x3=(2m+1)a−2⋅b⋅(2m2+2m)2, …, xa+1=(2m+1)0⋅b⋅(2m2+2m)a=b⋅2ama(m+1)a. Note that for 1≤i≤a, xi2+xi+12 is a perfect square and also note that p(xa+1)<2m+1=p(x1).
If xa+1 is not a power of 2, we extend the sequence xi using the same procedure described above. We keep doing this until p(xr)=2, for some integer r.
By (2), xi∈S iff xi+1∈S for i=1,2,3,…,r−1. Thus, n=x1∈S iff xr∈S. But xr is a power of 2 because p(xr)=2, and we earlier proved that powers of 2 are in S. Therefore, n∈S, proving the claim.
We have proven that every integer n≥1 is an element of S, and so we have proven that f(n)=k=f(0), for each n≥1. Therefore, f is constant, Q.E.D.