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Algebra Difficulty 7.7 National Olympiad, round 2 Prove it Canada

Problem:
Let N={0,1,2,}\mathbb{N} = \{0, 1, 2, \ldots\}. Determine all functions f:NNf: \mathbb{N} \rightarrow \mathbb{N} such that
xf(y)+yf(x)=(x+y)f(x2+y2) x f(y) + y f(x) = (x + y) f\left(x^{2} + y^{2}\right)
for all xx and yy in N\mathbb{N}.

Solution

Solution:
We claim that ff is a constant function. Suppose, for a contradiction, that there exist xx and yy with f(x)<f(y)f(x) < f(y); choose x,yx, y such that f(y)f(x)>0f(y) - f(x) > 0 is minimal. Then
f(x)=xf(x)+yf(x)x+y<xf(y)+yf(x)x+y<xf(y)+yf(y)x+y=f(y) f(x) = \frac{x f(x) + y f(x)}{x + y} < \frac{x f(y) + y f(x)}{x + y} < \frac{x f(y) + y f(y)}{x + y} = f(y)
so f(x)<f(x2+y2)<f(y)f(x) < f\left(x^{2} + y^{2}\right) < f(y) and 0<f(x2+y2)f(x)<f(y)f(x)0 < f\left(x^{2} + y^{2}\right) - f(x) < f(y) - f(x), contradicting the choice of xx and yy. Thus, ff is a constant function. Since f(0)f(0) is in N\mathbb{N}, the constant must be from N\mathbb{N}.
Also, for any cc in N\mathbb{N}, xc+yc=(x+y)cx c + y c = (x + y) c for all xx and yy, so f(x)=cf(x) = c, cNc \in \mathbb{N} are the solutions to the equation.

We claim ff is a constant function. Define g(x)=f(x)f(0)g(x) = f(x) - f(0). Then g(0)=0g(0) = 0, g(x)f(0)g(x) \geq -f(0) and
xg(y)+yg(x)=(x+y)g(x2+y2) x g(y) + y g(x) = (x + y) g\left(x^{2} + y^{2}\right)
for all x,yx, y in N\mathbb{N}.
Letting y=0y = 0 shows g(x2)=0g\left(x^{2}\right) = 0 (in particular, g(1)=g(4)=0g(1) = g(4) = 0), and letting x=y=1x = y = 1 shows g(2)=0g(2) = 0. Also, if x,yx, y and zz in N\mathbb{N} satisfy x2+y2=z2x^{2} + y^{2} = z^{2}, then
g(y)=yxg(x). g(y) = -\frac{y}{x} g(x) .
Letting x=4x = 4 and y=3y = 3, ()(*) shows that g(3)=0g(3) = 0.
For any even number x=2n>4x = 2n > 4, let y=n21y = n^{2} - 1. Then y>xy > x and x2+y2=(n2+1)2x^{2} + y^{2} = \left(n^{2} + 1\right)^{2}. For any odd number x=2n+1>3x = 2n + 1 > 3, let y=2(n+1)ny = 2(n + 1)n. Then y>xy > x and x2+y2=((n+1)2+n2)2x^{2} + y^{2} = \left((n + 1)^{2} + n^{2}\right)^{2}. Thus for every x>4x > 4 there is y>xy > x such that ()(*) is satisfied.
Suppose for a contradiction, that there is x>4x > 4 with g(x)>0g(x) > 0. Then we can construct a
sequence x=x0<x1<x2<x = x_{0} < x_{1} < x_{2} < \ldots where g(xi+1)=xi+1xig(xi)g\left(x_{i+1}\right) = -\frac{x_{i+1}}{x_{i}} g\left(x_{i}\right). It follows that g(xi+1)>g(xi)\left|g\left(x_{i+1}\right)\right| > \left|g\left(x_{i}\right)\right| and the signs of g(xi)g\left(x_{i}\right) alternate. Since g(x)g(x) is always an integer, g(xi+1)g(xi)+1\left|g\left(x_{i+1}\right)\right| \geq \left|g\left(x_{i}\right)\right| + 1. Thus for some sufficiently large value of ii, g(xi)<f(0)g\left(x_{i}\right) < -f(0), a contradiction.
As for Proof 1, we now conclude that the functions that satisfy the given functional equation are f(x)=cf(x) = c, cNc \in \mathbb{N}.

Suppose that WW is the set of nonnegative integers and that f:WWf: W \rightarrow W satisfies:
xf(y)+yf(x)=(x+y)f(x2+y2). x f(y) + y f(x) = (x + y) f\left(x^{2} + y^{2}\right) .
We will show that ff is a constant function.
Let f(0)=kf(0) = k, and set S={xf(x)=k}S = \{x \mid f(x) = k\}.
Letting y=0y = 0 in ()(*) shows that f(x2)=kx>0f\left(x^{2}\right) = k \quad \forall x > 0, and so
x2Sx>0 x^{2} \in S \quad \forall x > 0
In particular, 1S1 \in S.
Suppose x2+y2=z2x^{2} + y^{2} = z^{2}. Then yf(x)+xf(y)=(x+y)f(z2)=(x+y)ky f(x) + x f(y) = (x + y) f\left(z^{2}\right) = (x + y) k. Thus,
xSiffyS x \in S \quad \text{iff} \quad y \in S
whenever x2+y2x^{2} + y^{2} is a perfect square.
For a contradiction, let nn be the smallest non-negative integer such that f(2n)kf\left(2^{n}\right) \neq k. By (l) nn must be odd, so n12\frac{n-1}{2} is an integer. Now n12<n\frac{n-1}{2} < n so f(2n12)=kf\left(2^{\frac{n-1}{2}}\right) = k. Letting x=y=2n12x = y = 2^{\frac{n-1}{2}} in ()(*) shows f(2n)=kf\left(2^{n}\right) = k, a contradiction. Thus every power of 2 is an element of SS.
For each integer n2n \geq 2 define p(n)p(n) to be the largest prime such that p(n)np(n) \mid n.
Claim: For any integer n>1n > 1 that is not a power of 2, there exists a sequence of integers x1,x2,,xrx_{1}, x_{2}, \ldots, x_{r} such that the following conditions hold:
a) x1=nx_{1} = n.
b) xi2+xi+12x_{i}^{2} + x_{i+1}^{2} is a perfect square for each i=1,2,3,,r1i = 1, 2, 3, \ldots, r-1.
c) p(x1)p(x2)p(xr)=2p\left(x_{1}\right) \geq p\left(x_{2}\right) \geq \ldots \geq p\left(x_{r}\right) = 2.
Proof: Since nn is not a power of 22, p(n)=p(x1)3p(n) = p\left(x_{1}\right) \geq 3. Let p(x1)=2m+1p\left(x_{1}\right) = 2m + 1, so n=x1=b(2m+1)an = x_{1} = b(2m + 1)^{a}, for some aa and bb, where p(b)<2m+1p(b) < 2m + 1.
Case 1: a=1a = 1. Since (2m+1,2m2+2m,2m2+2m+1)\left(2m + 1, 2m^{2} + 2m, 2m^{2} + 2m + 1\right) is a Pythagorean Triple, if x2=b(2m2+2m)x_{2} = b\left(2m^{2} + 2m\right), then x12+x22=b2(2m2+2m+1)2x_{1}^{2} + x_{2}^{2} = b^{2}\left(2m^{2} + 2m + 1\right)^{2} is a perfect square. Furthermore, x2=2bm(m+1)x_{2} = 2b m(m + 1), and so p(x2)<2m+1=p(x1)p\left(x_{2}\right) < 2m + 1 = p\left(x_{1}\right).
Case 2: a>1a > 1. If n=x1=(2m+1)abn = x_{1} = (2m + 1)^{a} \cdot b, let x2=(2m+1)a1b(2m2+2m)x_{2} = (2m + 1)^{a-1} \cdot b \cdot \left(2m^{2} + 2m\right), x3=(2m+1)a2b(2m2+2m)2x_{3} = (2m + 1)^{a-2} \cdot b \cdot \left(2m^{2} + 2m\right)^{2}, \ldots, xa+1=(2m+1)0b(2m2+2m)a=b2ama(m+1)ax_{a+1} = (2m + 1)^{0} \cdot b \cdot \left(2m^{2} + 2m\right)^{a} = b \cdot 2^{a} m^{a}(m + 1)^{a}. Note that for 1ia1 \leq i \leq a, xi2+xi+12x_{i}^{2} + x_{i+1}^{2} is a perfect square and also note that p(xa+1)<2m+1=p(x1)p\left(x_{a+1}\right) < 2m + 1 = p\left(x_{1}\right).
If xa+1x_{a+1} is not a power of 2, we extend the sequence xix_{i} using the same procedure described above. We keep doing this until p(xr)=2p\left(x_{r}\right) = 2, for some integer rr.
By (2), xiSx_{i} \in S iff xi+1Sx_{i+1} \in S for i=1,2,3,,r1i = 1, 2, 3, \ldots, r-1. Thus, n=x1Sn = x_{1} \in S iff xrSx_{r} \in S. But xrx_{r} is a power of 2 because p(xr)=2p\left(x_{r}\right) = 2, and we earlier proved that powers of 2 are in SS. Therefore, nSn \in S, proving the claim.
We have proven that every integer n1n \geq 1 is an element of SS, and so we have proven that f(n)=k=f(0)f(n) = k = f(0), for each n1n \geq 1. Therefore, ff is constant, Q.E.D.

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