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Algebra Difficulty 5.6 AIME, harder Find the answer

(BMO 2007)

Find all real functions ff such that for all x,yRx, y \in \mathbb{R},

f(f(x)+y)=f(f(x)y)+4f(x)y f(f(x)+y)=f(f(x)-y)+4 f(x) y

A number or a short expression. Spacing and $ signs are ignored.

Solution

Let g(x)=f(x)x2g(x)=f(x)-x^{2}. The equation becomes

g(g(x)+x2+y)=g(g(x)+x2y) g\left(g(x)+x^{2}+y\right)=g\left(g(x)+x^{2}-y\right)

For all real numbers a,b,ca, b, c, by taking x=ax=a and y=cb2g(b)y=c-b^{2}-g(b), and x=b,y=ca2g(b)x=b, y=c-a^{2}-g(b), we obtain

g(g(a)+a2g(b)b2+c)=g(g(a)+a2+g(b)+b2c)=g(g(b)+b2g(a)a2+c) g\left(g(a)+a^{2}-g(b)-b^{2}+c\right)=g\left(g(a)+a^{2}+g(b)+b^{2}-c\right)=g\left(g(b)+b^{2}-g(a)-a^{2}+c\right)

The equality between the first and the third member shows that g(c)=g(c+2(g(a)+a2g(b)b2))g\left(c^{\prime}\right)=g\left(c^{\prime}+2\left(g(a)+a^{2}-g(b)-b^{2}\right)\right) for all cRc^{\prime} \in \mathbb{R}. Thus, either g(x)+x2g(x)+x^{2} is a constant function, which implies that ff is constant, and then f(x)=0f(x)=0 for all real xx by returning to the original equation; or there exist aba \neq b such that g(a)+a2g(b)+b2g(a)+a^{2} \neq g(b)+b^{2}, and gg is periodic. In this case, let TT be its period. Taking a=b+Ta=b+T, we get g(c)=g(c+2(2yT+T2))g\left(c^{\prime}\right)=g\left(c^{\prime}+2\left(2 y T+T^{2}\right)\right). Therefore, gg is 4yT+2T24 y T+2 T^{2}-periodic. As yy ranges over R\mathbb{R}, 4yT+2T24 y T+2 T^{2} also ranges over R\mathbb{R}, so g(c)=g(c+r)g\left(c^{\prime}\right)=g\left(c^{\prime}+r\right) for all real rr. Thus, gg is constant, and f(x)=x2+Cf(x)=x^{2}+C where CRC \in \mathbb{R}. Conversely, if gg is constant, it clearly satisfies equation (VI.1) which is equivalent to the given equation, so these functions ff are solutions to the problem for any real CC.

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Source: NuminaMath-1.5, licensed Apache-2.0. Statement and solution reproduced as published; topic and difficulty added by this site.