Maths Olympiad Prep

Library / /11 of 14

Algebra Difficulty 6.6 National olympiad Prove it Singapore

Find all functions f:ZZf: \mathbb{Z} \to \mathbb{Z} such that f(x+y)[(f(x)f(y))2+f(xy)]=f(x3)+f(y3)f(x+y)[(f(x)-f(y))^2+f(xy)] = f(x^3)+f(y^3).

Solution

There are 4 solutions, namely
f(x)=x,f(x)=0,f(x)=2,f(x)={1if x odd2if x even f(x) = x, \quad f(x) = 0, \quad f(x) = 2, \quad f(x) = \begin{cases} 1 & \text{if } x \text{ odd} \\ 2 & \text{if } x \text{ even} \end{cases}
Let (1) be the original equation. The first 3 solutions can be easily verified. The last solution can be verified by considering the cases when x,yx, y have the same parity, and when they don't. We proceed to prove these are the only solutions.

Put x=y=0x = y = 0: f(0)2=2f(0)f(0)=0f(0)^2 = 2f(0) \Rightarrow f(0) = 0 or f(0)=2f(0) = 2

Put y=0y = 0: f(x)32f(x)2f(0)+f(x)f(0)2+f(x)f(0)=f(x3)+f(0)f(x)^3 - 2f(x)^2f(0) + f(x)f(0)^2 + f(x)f(0) = f(x^3) + f(0) (2)

Put y=xy = -x: f(0)[(f(x)f(x))2+f(x2)]=f(x3)+f(x3)f(0)[(f(x) - f(-x))^2 + f(-x^2)] = f(x^3) + f(-x^3) (3)

Case 1. f(0)=0f(0) = 0. From (2) and (3) we get f(x)3=f(x3)f(x)^3 = f(x^3) and f(x3)=f(x3)f(x^3) = -f(-x^3). Therefore f(x)=f(x3)3=f(x3)3=f(x)f(-x) = \sqrt[3]{f(-x^3)} = \sqrt[3]{-f(x^3)} = -f(x), so ff is an odd function. Putting x=1x = 1 in (2) yields f(1)3=f(1)f(1)^3 = f(1), so f(1)=1,0f(1) = 1, 0 or 1-1. Putting y=1y = 1 in (1), yields
f(x+1)((f(x)f(1))2+f(x))=f(x3)+f(1)(4) f(x+1)((f(x)-f(1))^2 + f(x)) = f(x^3) + f(1) \quad (4)
Case 1.1. f(1)=0f(1) = 0. (4) becomes f(x+1)(f(x)2+f(x))=f(x)3f(x+1)(f(x)^2 + f(x)) = f(x)^3. Thus f(x+1)=0f(x+1) = 0 implies f(x)=0f(x) = 0. Since f(1)=0f(1) = 0, f(x)=0f(x) = 0 for all x1x \le 1. Since ff is odd, f(x)=0f(x) = 0 for all xZx \in \mathbb{Z} which is the second solution.

Case 1.2. f(1)=1f(1) = 1. (4) becomes f(x+1)(f(x)2f(x)+1)=f(x)3+1f(x+1)(f(x)^2 - f(x) + 1) = f(x)^3 + 1. Since f(x)2f(x)+1>0f(x)^2 - f(x) + 1 > 0, f(x+1)=f(x)3+1f(x)2f(x)+1=f(x)+1f(x+1) = \frac{f(x)^3+1}{f(x)^2-f(x)+1} = f(x)+1. From here we can easily show f(x)=xf(x) = x for all xZx \in \mathbb{Z} which is the first solution.

Case 1.3. f(1)=1f(1) = -1. (4) becomes f(x+1)(f(x)2+3f(x)+1)=f(x)31f(x+1)(f(x)^2 + 3f(x) + 1) = f(x)^3 - 1. Since f(x)2+3f(x)+1>0f(x)^2 + 3f(x) + 1 > 0, f(x+1)=f(x)31f(x)2+3f(x)+1f(x+1) = \frac{f(x)^3-1}{f(x)^2+3f(x)+1}. Putting x=1x = 1 and then x=2x = 2 yield f(2)=2f(2) = 2 and f(3)=711f(3) = \frac{7}{11} which is not an integer. Thus there is no solution.

Case 2. f(0)=2f(0) = 2. Substituting x=1x = 1 in (2) yields f(1)34f(1)2+5f(1)2=0f(1)^3 - 4f(1)^2 + 5f(1) - 2 = 0 which implies (f(1)2)(f(1)1)2=0(f(1) - 2)(f(1) - 1)^2 = 0. Thus f(1)=1f(1) = 1 or f(1)=2f(1) = 2. Similarly, substituting x=1x = -1 in (2) yields f(1)=1f(-1) = 1 or 22. Thus (f(1),f(1))(f(1), f(-1)) can be either (1,1)(1, 1), (1,2)(1, 2), (2,1)(2, 1), or (2,2)(2, 2). Putting x=1x = 1 in (3), we get 2[(f(1)f(1))2+f(1)]=f(1)+f(1)2[(f(1) - f(-1))^2 + f(-1)] = f(1) + f(-1) implying f(1)+f(1)f(1) + f(-1) is even which rules out (1,2)(1, 2) and (2,1)(2, 1).

Putting x=1x = -1 in (1), we get
f(x1)((f(x)f(1))2+f(x))=f(x3)+f(1)(5) f(x-1)((f(x)-f(-1))^2 + f(-x)) = f(x^3) + f(-1) \quad (5)
Case 2.1. f(1)=f(1)=1f(1) = f(-1) = 1. We will inductively prove this leads to the function f(odd)=1f(\text{odd}) = 1, f(even)=2f(\text{even}) = 2. It suffices to show the function is periodic with period 2. For x[1,1]x \in [-1, 1] this is already true.

Suppose we have proven the periodicity for all x[n,n]x \in [-n, n], where nn is a positive integer. This implies f(n)=f(n)>0f(n) = f(-n) > 0. Since f(1)=f(1)f(1) = f(-1), combining (4) and (5) and substituting x=nx = n, we get
f(n+1)=f(n)3+f(1)(f(n)f(1))2+f(n)=f(n)3+f(1)(f(n)f(1))2+f(n)=f(n1) f(n+1) = \frac{f(n)^3 + f(1)}{(f(n) - f(1))^2 + f(n)} = \frac{f(n)^3 + f(1)}{(f(n) - f(-1))^2 + f(-n)} = f(n-1)
Similarly, substituting x=nx = -n, we get
f(n1)=f(n)3+f(1)(f(n)f(1))2+f(n)=f(n)3+f(1)(f(n)f(1))2+f(n)=f(n+1) f(-n-1) = \frac{f(-n)^3 + f(-1)}{(f(-n) - f(-1))^2 + f(n)} = \frac{f(-n)^3 + f(1)}{(f(-n) - f(1))^2 + f(-n)} = f(-n+1)
Thus the function is periodic with period 2 in the range [n1,n+1][-n - 1, n + 1] as well. The induction is complete and we have found our fourth solution.

Case 2.2. f(1)=f(1)=2f(1) = f(-1) = 2. Similarly to Case 2.1, we can inductively prove the function is periodic with period 2, thus yielding the function f(x)=2f(x) = 2, the third solution.

Want a route through all this instead of an archive? The track puts 2,000 problems in a working order, from AMC 10 level to the IMO shortlist.

Source: MathNet, licensed CC-BY-4.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.