Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2019

Algebra Difficulty 5.5 AIME, harder Prove it Greece

Let R+=(0,)\mathbb{R}_+ = (0, \infty). Determine all functions f:R+R+f : \mathbb{R}_+ \to \mathbb{R}_+ such that
f(xf(y))+yf(z)+zf(x)=xy+yz+zx, f(xf(y)) + yf(z) + zf(x) = xy + yz + zx,
for all x,y,zR+x, y, z \in \mathbb{R}_+.

Solution

For x=y=z=1x = y = z = 1 we have f(f(1))=1f(f(1)) = 1, and hence for x=y=z=f(1)x = y = z = f(1) we have
3f(f(1))=3f(1)2f(1)2=1f(1)=1. 3f(f(1)) = 3f(1)^2 \Rightarrow f(1)^2 = 1 \Rightarrow f(1) = 1.
For y=z=1y = z = 1, we have for every xR+x \in \mathbb{R}_+:
f(f(x))+f(x)=2xf(f(x))=2xf(x)(1) \begin{aligned} f(f(x)) + f(x) &= 2x \\ f(f(x)) &= 2x - f(x) \end{aligned} \qquad (1)
For z=1z = 1 from the given relation we get:
f(xf(y))+f(y)+f(f(x))=xy+y+x f(xf(y)) + f(y) + f(f(x)) = xy + y + x
And from (1) we find:
f(xf(y))=xy+yx+f(x)f(y),(2) f(xf(y)) = xy + y - x + f(x) - f(y), \qquad (2)
for all x,yR+x, y \in \mathbb{R}_+. Putting to (2) the f(x)f(x) in the place of xx we have, from (1), for all x,yR+x, y \in \mathbb{R}_+:
f(f(x)f(y))=f(x)y+y+2x2f(x)f(y)(3) f(f(x)f(y)) = f(x)y + y + 2x - 2f(x) - f(y) \qquad (3)
and interchanging xx and yy we get the relation
f(f(y)f(x))=f(y)x+x+2y2f(y)f(x)(4) f(f(y)f(x)) = f(y)x + x + 2y - 2f(y) - f(x) \qquad (4)
From (3) and (4) we have, for all x,yR+x, y \in \mathbb{R}_+:
(f(x)1)(y1)=(f(y)1)(x1),(5) (f(x) - 1)(y - 1) = (f(y) - 1)(x - 1), \qquad (5)
From which for y=2y = 2 we find
f(x)=cxc+1=c(x1)+1(6) f(x) = cx - c + 1 = c(x - 1) + 1 \qquad (6)
where c=f(2)1c = f(2) - 1. By substitution to the given equation we have
c2(xy+yz+zxxyz)+c(x+y+z)3c+3=xy+yz+zx, c^2(xy + yz + zx - x - y - z) + c(x + y + z) - 3c + 3 = xy + yz + zx,
from which for x=y=zx = y = z we find
3(c21)x2+3c(1c)x+3(1c)=0c21=0, c(1c)=0, 1c=0c=1. 3(c^2 - 1)x^2 + 3c(1-c)x + 3(1-c) = 0 \\ \Leftrightarrow c^2 - 1 = 0,\ c(1-c) = 0,\ 1-c = 0 \Leftrightarrow c = 1.
c=1c = 1, and hence: f(x)=xf(x) = x, for every x>0x > 0.

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