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Algebra Difficulty 7.4 National olympiad, round 2 Prove it Saudi Arabia

Find all functions f:ZZf: \mathbb{Z} \rightarrow \mathbb{Z} such that
xf(2f(y)x)+y2f(2xf(y))=(f(x))2x+f(yf(y)), x f(2 f(y)-x)+y^{2} f(2 x-f(y))=\frac{(f(x))^{2}}{x}+f(y f(y)),
for all x,yZ,x0x, y \in \mathbb{Z}, x \neq 0.

Solution

Let a=f(0)a=f(0) and denote (*) as the given condition. Assume that a0a \neq 0, substituting x=2ax=2a and y=0y=0 in (*), we get
2a2=(f(2a))22a+a 2a^{2}=\frac{(f(2a))^{2}}{2a}+a
or
4a2=(f(2a)2a)2. 4a-2=\left(\frac{f(2a)}{2a}\right)^{2}.
This follows that 4a24a-2 is a perfect square which is a contradiction since there is no perfect square congruent to 22 modulo 44. Thus a=0a=0, or f(0)=0f(0)=0. Now, substituting y=0y=0 in (*), we get
x2f(x)=(f(x))2,xZ,x0 x^{2} f(-x)=(f(x))^{2}, \quad \forall x \in \mathbb{Z}, x \neq 0
It follows that
x2f(x)=(f(x))2,xZ,x0 x^{2} f(x)=(f(-x))^{2}, \quad \forall x \in \mathbb{Z}, x \neq 0
Therefore
(f(x))4=x4(f(x))2=x6f(x),xZ,x0 (f(x))^{4}=x^{4}(f(-x))^{2}=x^{6} f(x), \quad \forall x \in \mathbb{Z}, x \neq 0
From this and f(0)=0f(0)=0, we get f(x)=0f(x)=0 or f(x)=x2f(x)=x^{2} for any integer xx. Clearly, the function f(x)=x2f(x)=x^{2} satisfies the original equation. Let us consider now the case there exists some integer c0c \neq 0 such that f(c)=0f(c)=0. Replacing y=cy=c in (*), we get
c2f(2x)=0,xZ,x0 c^{2} f(2x)=0, \quad \forall x \in \mathbb{Z}, x \neq 0
Thus, for any even integer xx, we have f(x)=0f(x)=0. Now, if there exists some odd number dd such that f(d)=d2f(d)=d^{2}, taking xx even and y=dy=d in (*), we get
d2f(2xd2)=f(d3),xZ,x0,2x d^{2} f\left(2x-d^{2}\right)=f\left(d^{3}\right), \quad \forall x \in \mathbb{Z}, x \neq 0, 2 \mid x
If f(d3)0f\left(d^{3}\right) \neq 0, then f(2xd2)0f\left(2x-d^{2}\right) \neq 0 and hence f(d3)=d6,f(2xd2)=(2xd2)2f\left(d^{3}\right)=d^{6}, f\left(2x-d^{2}\right)= (2x-d^{2})^{2}. Plug back into the above equation, we get a contradiction. Therefore, f(d3)=0f\left(d^{3}\right)=0 and hence f(2xd2)=0f\left(2x-d^{2}\right)=0 for any nonzero even integer xx. It follows that f(x)=0f(x)=0 for any integer xx such that x1(mod4)x \equiv -1 \pmod{4} and xd2x \neq -d^{2}.
In x2f(x)=(f(x))2x^{2} f(-x)=(f(x))^{2}, taking x1(mod4),xd2x \equiv -1 \pmod{4}, x \neq -d^{2}, we get f(x)=0f(-x)=0. It follows that f(x)=0f(x)=0 for any integer xx such that x1(mod4)x \equiv 1 \pmod{4} and xd2x \neq d^{2}. Thus f(x)=0f(x)=0 for any integer x±d2x \neq \pm d^{2}. However, we have f(d)=d20f(d)=d^{2} \neq 0, so d=±d2d= \pm d^{2} or d=±1d= \pm 1. It follows that d=d3d=d^{3} and so f(d)=f(d3)=0f(d)=f\left(d^{3}\right)=0, which is a contradiction. Therefore, in this case, we have f(x)=0f(x)=0 for any integer xx.
In conclusion, the equation has two solution: f(x)=0f(x)=0 and f(x)=x2f(x)=x^{2}.

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