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Algebra Difficulty 5.9 AIME, harder Prove it Romania

Find the functions f:RRf : \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R}, satisfying
f(f(x))+yf(x)x+xf(f(y)), f(f(x)) + y \cdot f(x) \leq x + x \cdot f(f(y)),
for every real numbers xx and yy.

Solution

For x=0x = 0 in the given relation we get f(f(0))+yf(0)0f(f(0)) + y f(0) \le 0, for every yRy \in \mathbb{R}, which is true only if f(0)=0f(0) = 0. Indeed, if f(0)0f(0) \ne 0, then yf(f(0))f(0)y \le \frac{-f(f(0))}{f(0)}, for every yRy \in \mathbb{R}, or yf(f(0))f(0)y \ge \frac{-f(f(0))}{f(0)}, for every yRy \in \mathbb{R}, which is impossible.

Choosing y=0y = 0, it results f(f(x))xf(f(x)) \le x, for every real xx. (1)

For x=1x = 1 in the given relation we get f(f(1))+yf(1)1+f(f(y))f(f(1)) + y f(1) \le 1 + f(f(y)), and using (1) we get f(f(1))+yf(1)1+yf(f(1)) + y f(1) \le 1 + y, so y(f(1)1)1f(f(1))y(f(1) - 1) \le 1 - f(f(1)), for every real yy. The relation is true, as above, only if f(1)1=0f(1) - 1 = 0, i.e. f(1)=1f(1) = 1.

In the above context, for x=1x = 1, the relation from the hypothesis ensures that yf(f(y))y \le f(f(y)), for every real yy. (2)

From (1) and (2) we get that f(f(x))=xf(f(x)) = x for every xRx \in \mathbb{R}, and using the hypothesis we obtain that x+yf(x)x+xyx + y f(x) \le x + x y, so yf(x)xyy f(x) \le x y for every x,yRx, y \in \mathbb{R}.

For y=1y = 1 we get f(x)xf(x) \le x and for y=1y = -1 we get f(x)xf(x) \ge x, so f(x)=xf(x) = x for every xRx \in \mathbb{R}, which satisfies the hypothesis.

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Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement reproduced verbatim; metadata (topic, difficulty) added by this project.