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Algebra Difficulty 6.5 National olympiad Prove it Iran

Find all functions f:R+R+f : \mathbb{R}^+ \to \mathbb{R}^+ such that for all positive real numbers xx and yy,
f(yf(x+1))+f(x+1xf(y))=f(y). f\left(\frac{y}{f(x+1)}\right) + f\left(\frac{x+1}{x f(y)}\right) = f(y).

Solution

Let P(x,y)P(x, y) be the assertion f(yf(x+1))+f(x+1xf(y))=f(y)f\left(\frac{y}{f(x+1)}\right) + f\left(\frac{x+1}{x f(y)}\right) = f(y).

Rewriting the equation, we get f(yf(x))+f(x(x1)f(y))=f(y)f\left(\frac{y}{f(x)}\right) + f\left(\frac{x}{(x-1)f(y)}\right) = f(y) which is valid for each x>1, yR+x > 1,\ y \in \mathbb{R}^+.

If there exists aR+a \in \mathbb{R}^+ for which f(a)>1af(a) > \frac{1}{a}, we get
P(af(a)af(a)1,a)f(af(af(a)af(a)1))=0, P\left(\frac{a f(a)}{a f(a)-1}, a\right) \Rightarrow f\left(\frac{a}{f\left(\frac{a f(a)}{a f(a)-1}\right)}\right) = 0,
which is a contradiction. Therefore, for each xR+x \in \mathbb{R}^+, f(x)1xf(x) \le \frac{1}{x}.

Now, we can write
P(x>1,y)f(y)=f(yf(x))+f(x(x1)f(y))f(x)y+(11x)f(y)yf(y)xf(x). P(x > 1, y) \Rightarrow f(y) = f\left(\frac{y}{f(x)}\right) + f\left(\frac{x}{(x-1)f(y)}\right) \le \frac{f(x)}{y} + \left(1 - \frac{1}{x}\right)f(y) \Rightarrow y f(y) \le x f(x).
So for all x,y>1R+x, y > 1 \in \mathbb{R}^+, xf(x)=yf(y)x f(x) = y f(y). Hence for each x>1R+x > 1 \in \mathbb{R}^+, f(x)=Cxf(x) = \frac{C}{x} where CC is a constant number. If we choose real numbers x,yx, y greater than 1 such that yy is also greater than CC, substituting these values for xx and yy in the equation shows that C=1C = 1. Therefore, x>1R+\forall x > 1 \in \mathbb{R}^+, f(x)=1xf(x) = \frac{1}{x}.

Since f(1)1f(1) \le 1, we have
P(x>1,1)f(1)=f(1f(x))+f(x(x1)f(1))=f(x)+x1xf(1)1xf(1)=1xf(1)=1. \begin{aligned} P(x > 1, 1) &\Rightarrow f(1) = f\left(\frac{1}{f(x)}\right) + f\left(\frac{x}{(x-1)f(1)}\right) = f(x) + \frac{x-1}{x}f(1) \\ &\Rightarrow \frac{1}{x}f(1) = \frac{1}{x} \Rightarrow f(1) = 1. \end{aligned}
Now, for 12x<1\frac{1}{2} \le x < 1, we can write
P(2,x)f(xf(2))+f(2f(x))=f(x)f(2x)+f(2f(x))=f(x)12x+f(x)2=f(x)f(x)=1x. \begin{aligned} P(2, x) &\Rightarrow f\left(\frac{x}{f(2)}\right) + f\left(\frac{2}{f(x)}\right) = f(x) \Rightarrow f(2x) + f\left(\frac{2}{f(x)}\right) = f(x) \\ &\Rightarrow \frac{1}{2x} + \frac{f(x)}{2} = f(x) \Rightarrow f(x) = \frac{1}{x}. \end{aligned}
In a similar way, by using induction on nn one can prove that for each positive real xx in the interval 12nx<12n1\frac{1}{2^n} \le x < \frac{1}{2^{n-1}}, f(x)=1xf(x) = \frac{1}{x}. Therefore, for each xR+x \in \mathbb{R}^+, f(x)=1xf(x) = \frac{1}{x}. It's easy to verify that this solution is indeed an answer to the functional equation.

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