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Algebra Difficulty 5.2 AIME, harder Find the answer

Find all functions f:RRf: \mathbb{R} \rightarrow \mathbb{R} that satisfy

f(x+yf(x))=f(xf(y))x+f(y+f(x)) f(x+y f(x))=f(x f(y))-x+f(y+f(x))

for all x,yRx, y \in \mathbb{R}.

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

Solution

Substitute x=y=0x=y=0: this gives

f(0)=f(0)0+f(f(0)) f(0)=f(0)-0+f(f(0))

so f(f(0))=0f(f(0))=0. Substitute x=y=1x=y=1: this gives

f(1+f(1))=f(f(1))1+f(1+f(1)) f(1+f(1))=f(f(1))-1+f(1+f(1))

so f(f(1))=1f(f(1))=1. Now substitute x=1,y=0x=1, y=0 :

f(1)=f(f(0))1+f(f(1)) f(1)=f(f(0))-1+f(f(1))

We know that f(f(0))=0f(f(0))=0 and f(f(1))=1f(f(1))=1, so we find f(1)=0f(1)=0. Since f(f(1))=1f(f(1))=1, this also gives f(0)=1f(0)=1. Now substitute y=0y=0 :

f(x)=f(x)x+f(f(x)) for all xR f(x)=f(x)-x+f(f(x)) \quad \text { for all } x \in \mathbb{R}

so f(f(x))=xf(f(x))=x for all xRx \in \mathbb{R}. Substitute x=1x=1 : this gives

f(1)=f(f(y))1+f(y) for all xR f(1)=f(f(y))-1+f(y) \quad \text { for all } x \in \mathbb{R}

Together with f(1)=0f(1)=0 and f(f(y))=yf(f(y))=y, we now get 0=y1+f(y)0=y-1+f(y), so f(y)=1yf(y)=1-y for all yRy \in \mathbb{R}. We have now found that the only possible solution can be: f(x)=1xf(x)=1-x for all xRx \in \mathbb{R}. If we substitute this into the original functional equation, we get on the left

1(x+y(1x))=1xy+xy 1-(x+y(1-x))=1-x-y+x y

and on the right

1x(1y)x+1(y+1x)=1x+xyx+1y1+x=1xy+xy 1-x(1-y)-x+1-(y+1-x)=1-x+x y-x+1-y-1+x=1-x-y+x y

So this function satisfies and is therefore the only solution.

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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.