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Algebra Difficulty 8.2 Shortlist Prove it South Africa

Find all functions f:ZZf: \mathbb{Z} \to \mathbb{Z} such that, for all integers aa, bb, and cc satisfying a+b+c=0a + b + c = 0, the following equality holds:
f(a)2+f(b)2+f(c)2=2f(a)f(b)+2f(b)f(c)+2f(c)f(a). f(a)^2 + f(b)^2 + f(c)^2 = 2f(a)f(b) + 2f(b)f(c) + 2f(c)f(a).

Solution

Substituting a=b=c=0a = b = c = 0 yields 3f(0)2=6f(0)23f(0)^2 = 6f(0)^2 which implies f(0)=0f(0) = 0. Now we can place b=ab = -a, c=0c = 0 to obtain f(a)2+f(a)2=2f(a)f(a)f(a)^2 + f(-a)^2 = 2f(a)f(-a), or, equivalently (f(a)f(a))2=0(f(a) - f(-a))^2 = 0 which implies f(a)=f(a)f(a) = f(-a).

Assume now that f(a)=0f(a) = 0 for some aZa \in \mathbb{Z}. Then for any bb we have a+b+(ab)=0a+b+(-a-b) = 0 hence f(a)2+f(b)2+f(a+b)2=2f(b)f(a+b)f(a)^2+f(b)^2+f(a+b)^2 = 2f(b)f(a+b), which is equivalent to (f(b)f(a+b))2=0(f(b) - f(a+b))^2 = 0, or f(a+b)=f(b)f(a+b) = f(b). Therefore if f(a)=0f(a) = 0 for some a0a \neq 0, then ff is a periodic function with period aa.

Placing b=ab = a and c=2ac = 2a in the original equation yields f(2a)(f(2a)4f(a))=0f(2a) \cdot (f(2a) - 4f(a)) = 0. Choosing a=1a = 1 we get f(2)=0f(2) = 0 or f(2)=4f(1)f(2) = 4f(1).

If f(2)=0f(2) = 0, then ff is periodic with period 22 and we must have f(n)=f(1)f(n) = f(1) for all odd nn. It is easy to verify that for each cZc \in \mathbb{Z} the function
f(x)={0,2n,c,2n f(x) = \begin{cases} 0, & 2 \mid n, \\ c, & 2 \nmid n \end{cases}
satisfies the conditions of the problem.

Assume now that f(2)=4f(1)f(2) = 4f(1) and that f(1)0f(1) \neq 0. Assume that f(i)=i2f(1)f(i) = i^2 \cdot f(1) holds for all i{1,2,,n}i \in \{1, 2, \dots, n\} (it certainly does for i{0,1,2}i \in \{0, 1, 2\}). We place a=1a = 1, b=nb = n, c=n1c = -n - 1 in the original equation to obtain:
f(1)2+n4f(1)2+f(n+1)2=2n2f(1)2+2(n2+1)f(n+1)f(1)(f(n+1)(n+1)2f(1))(f(n+1)(n1)2f(1))=0. f(1)^2 + n^4 f(1)^2 + f(n+1)^2 = 2n^2 f(1)^2 + 2(n^2 + 1)f(n+1)f(1) \\ \Leftrightarrow (f(n+1) - (n+1)^2 f(1)) \cdot (f(n+1) - (n-1)^2 f(1)) = 0.
If f(n+1)=(n1)2f(1)f(n+1) = (n-1)^2 f(1) then setting a=n+1a = n+1, b=1nb = 1-n, and c=2c = -2 in the original equation yields
2(n1)4f(1)2+16f(1)2=242(n1)2f(1)2+2(n1)4f(1) 2(n - 1)^4 f(1)^2 + 16f(1)^2 = 2 \cdot 4 \cdot 2(n - 1)^2 f(1)^2 + 2 \cdot (n - 1)^4 f(1)
which implies (n1)2=1(n-1)^2 = 1 hence n=2n = 2. Therefore f(3)=f(1)f(3) = f(1). Placing a=1a = 1, b=3b = 3, and c=4c = 4 into the original equation implies that f(4)=0f(4) = 0 or f(4)=4f(1)=f(2)f(4) = 4f(1) = f(2). If f(4)0f(4) \neq 0 we get
f(2)2+f(2)2+f(4)2=2f(2)2+4f(2)f(4) f(2)^2 + f(2)^2 + f(4)^2 = 2f(2)^2 + 4f(2)f(4)
hence f(4)=4f(2)f(4) = 4f(2). We already have that f(4)=f(2)f(4) = f(2) and this implies that f(2)=0f(2) = 0, which is impossible according to our assumption.

Therefore f(4)=0f(4) = 0 and the function ff has period 44. Then f(4k)=0f(4k) = 0, f(4k+1)=f(4k+3)=cf(4k+1) = f(4k+3) = c, and f(4k+2)=4cf(4k+2) = 4c. It is easy to verify that this function satisfies the requirements of the problem.

The remaining case is f(n)=n2f(1)f(n) = n^2 f(1) for all nNn \in \mathbb{N}, or f(n)=cn2f(n) = cn^2 for some cZc \in \mathbb{Z}. This function satisfies the given condition.

Thus the solutions are: f(x)=cx2f(x) = cx^2 for some cZc \in \mathbb{Z}; f(x)={0,2n,c,2nf(x) = \begin{cases} 0, & 2 \mid n, \\ c, & 2 \nmid n \end{cases} for some cZc \in \mathbb{Z}; and f(x)={0,4n,c,2n,4c,n2(mod4)f(x) = \begin{cases} 0, & 4 \mid n, \\ c, & 2 \nmid n, \\ 4c, & n \equiv 2 \pmod{4} \end{cases} for some cZc \in \mathbb{Z}.

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