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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Prove it Croatia

Determine all functions f:RRf: \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} such that for all real numbers xx and yy holds
f(y+f(x))f(x+f(y))=f(xy)(f(x+y)1). f(y + f(x)) - f(x + f(y)) = f(x - y)(f(x + y) - 1).

Solution

Setting x=yx = y gives 0=f(0)(f(2x)1)0 = f(0)(f(2x) - 1), xR\forall x \in \mathbb{R}.

First case: f(0)0f(0) \ne 0
We have f(2x)1=0f(2x) - 1 = 0, xR\forall x \in \mathbb{R}, so f(x)=1f(x) = 1, xR\forall x \in \mathbb{R}. We check that this function is a solution.

Second case: f(0)=0f(0) = 0
Setting y=0y = 0 gives f(f(x))f(x)=f(x)(f(x)1)f(f(x)) - f(x) = f(x)(f(x) - 1), i.e.
f(f(x))=(f(x))2,xR.() f(f(x)) = (f(x))^2, \quad \forall x \in \mathbb{R}. \qquad (\star)
Interchanging xx and yy gives f(x+f(y))f(y+f(x))=f(yx)(f(x+y)1)f(x+f(y)) - f(y+f(x)) = f(y-x)(f(x+y)-1), which added to the starting equation gives
0=(f(x+y)1)(f(xy)+f(yx)),x,yR. 0 = (f(x+y) - 1)(f(x-y) + f(y-x)), \quad \forall x, y \in \mathbb{R}.
Setting y=xy = -x in thus obtained equation gives 0=(f(0)1)(f(2x)+f(2x))0 = (f(0) - 1)(f(2x) + f(-2x)), so f(0)=0f(0) = 0 implies f(2x)=f(2x)f(2x) = -f(-2x), xR\forall x \in \mathbb{R} and hence the function ff is odd.

Now we conclude
f(f(x))=(f(x))2=(f(x))2=(f(x))2=f(f(x))=f(f(x))=f(f(x)),() f(f(x)) \stackrel{*}{=} (f(x))^2 = (-f(-x))^2 = (f(-x))^2 \stackrel{*}{=} f(f(-x)) = -f(-f(-x)) = -f(f(x)), \qquad (\star\star)
for every xRx \in \mathbb{R}

Finally, ()(\star\star) and ()(\star) give 2f(f(x))=02f(f(x)) = 0, so 2(f(x))2=02(f(x))^2 = 0. We check directly that f(x)=0f(x) = 0, xR\forall x \in \mathbb{R} is also a solution.

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