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Algebra Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Prove it Saudi Arabia

Find all functions f:RRf: \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R} such that
x[f(x+y)f(xy)]=4yf(x) x[f(x+y)-f(x-y)]=4 y f(x)
for any real numbers x,yx, y.

Solution

Denote (*) as the given condition.
Let a=f(0)a = f(0). Taking x=yx = y in (*), we get
f(2x)=a+4f(x) f(2x) = a + 4 f(x)
for any x0x \neq 0. Now, by replacing x,yx, y by 2x,2y2x, 2y in (*) and using the above property (here we choose x,yx, y such that x+y,xy,x0x + y, x - y, x \neq 0), we get
2x[4f(x+y)4f(xy)]=8y[a+4f(x)], 2x[4 f(x + y) - 4 f(x - y)] = 8y[a + 4 f(x)],
or
f(x+y)f(xy)=ayx+4yxf(x). f(x + y) - f(x - y) = \frac{a y}{x} + \frac{4 y}{x} f(x).
Combining this with (*), we get a=0a = 0. It follows that f(0)=0f(0) = 0 and f(2x)=4f(x)f(2x) = 4 f(x) for any xx.
Replacing y=xy = -x in (*), we have
f(2x)=4f(x)=f(2x) f(-2x) = 4 f(x) = f(2x)
for any x0x \neq 0. Since f(0)=0f(0) = 0, we conclude that ff is an even function. Now, replacing xx by xx in (1), we get
x[f(xy)f(yx)]=4yf(x) x[f(-x - y) - f(y - x)] = 4y f(-x)
or
x[f(y+x)f(yx)]=4yf(x). x[f(y + x) - f(y - x)] = 4y f(x).
It follows that
xy[f(y+x)f(yx)]=4y2f(x). x y [f(y + x) - f(y - x)] = 4 y^2 f(x).
From (*), we get y[f(y+x)f(yx)]=4xf(y)y [f(y + x) - f(y - x)] = 4x f(y). Combine with the above equation, we get
x2f(y)=y2f(x) x^2 f(y) = y^2 f(x)
for any real numbers x,yx, y. This shows that
f(x)=ax2 f(x) = a x^2
where aa is a constant, which is truly a solution.

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