AlgebraDifficulty 5.0AIME, harderProve itUnited States
Problem: Find all functions f:Z→Z from the integers to the integers satisfying f(m+f(n))−f(m)=n for all integers m,n∈Z.
Solution
Solution: Adding f(m) to both sides, we get f(m+f(n))=n+f(m). Swapping m and n gives m+f(n)=f(n+f(m))=f(f(m+f(n))). By fixing n and varying m, we can get m+f(n) to be any integer x. Thus, x=f(f(x)). Plugging in 1 for m and f(x) for n to the original equation then gives f(x)+f(1)=f(1+f(f(x)))=f(1+x), so f(x) is linear, of the form cx for some constant c.
Plugging in 0 for m then gives n=f(f(n))−f(0)=c2n, so c2=±1. It is easily seen that both f(x)=x and f(x)=−x indeed work.
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