Maths Olympiad Prep

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, 2012

Algebra Difficulty 8.3 Shortlist Prove it Slovenia

Find all functions f:RRf: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} such that
(x+f(x)2)f(y)=f(yf(x))+xyf(x) (x + f(x)^2)f(y) = f(yf(x)) + xyf(x)
for all x,yRx, y \in \mathbb{R}.

Solution

If we substitute x=1x = 1 into the functional equation, we get
f(y)+f(1)2f(y)=f(yf(1))+yf(1).(1) f(y) + f(1)^2 f(y) = f(yf(1)) + yf(1). \quad (1)
We successively substitute 11, f(1)f(1) and f(1)2f(1)^2 instead of yy into this equation to get
f(f(1))=f(1)3,(2) f(f(1)) = f(1)^3, \tag{2}
f(1)3+f(1)5=f(f(1)2)+f(1)2,(3) f(1)^3 + f(1)^5 = f(f(1)^2) + f(1)^2, \quad (3)
f(1)7+2f(1)5f(1)4f(1)2=f(f(1)3).(4) f(1)^7 + 2f(1)^5 - f(1)^4 - f(1)^2 = f(f(1)^3). \quad (4)
In the last two equations, we have already considered (2), and in the last equation, we have also considered (3). If we now substitute y=1y = 1 and x=f(1)x = f(1) into the functional equation and use (2), we get
f(1)2+f(1)7=f(f(1)3)+f(1)4.(5) f(1)^2 + f(1)^7 = f(f(1)^3) + f(1)^4. \quad (5)
From (4) and (5) we derive f(1)5=f(1)2f(1)^5 = f(1)^2. Hence f(1)=0f(1) = 0 or f(1)=1f(1) = 1. If f(1)=0f(1) = 0, then from (1) we get f(y)=f(0)f(y) = f(0) for any yy, and we conclude that ff is a constant function. The only constant function that satisfies the equation is the zero function.
If, on the other hand, f(1)=1f(1) = 1, then from (1) we get f(y)=yf(y) = y for any yy, and we verify that this function satisfies the functional equation. The solutions are f(x)=0f(x) = 0 and f(x)=xf(x) = x.

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