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Algebra Difficulty 7.0 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Find all functions f:R+R+f:\mathbb{R}^+\rightarrow\mathbb{R}^+ such that for all x,yR+x, y\in\mathbb{R}^+,
f(x)y2f(y)x2(1x1y)2 \frac{f(x)}{y^2} - \frac{f(y)}{x^2} \le \left(\frac{1}{x}-\frac{1}{y}\right)^2
(R+\mathbb{R}^+ denotes the set of positive real numbers.)

(Proposed by Ivan Chan Guan Yu)

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

Solution

1. Given the functional inequality:
f(x)y2f(y)x2(1x1y)2 \frac{f(x)}{y^2} - \frac{f(y)}{x^2} \le \left(\frac{1}{x} - \frac{1}{y}\right)^2
for all x,yR+ x, y \in \mathbb{R}^+ .

2. Let's rewrite the inequality in a more convenient form:
f(x)y2f(y)x2(xy)2x2y2 \frac{f(x)}{y^2} - \frac{f(y)}{x^2} \le \frac{(x - y)^2}{x^2 y^2}

3. Multiply both sides by x2y2 x^2 y^2 to clear the denominators:
x2f(x)y2f(y)(xy)2 x^2 f(x) - y^2 f(y) \le (x - y)^2

4. Consider the case when x=y x = y :
x2f(x)x2f(x)0    00 x^2 f(x) - x^2 f(x) \le 0 \implies 0 \le 0
This is always true, so the inequality holds for x=y x = y .

5. Now, let's analyze the inequality for xy x \neq y . Rearrange the inequality:
x2f(x)y2f(y)(xy)2 x^2 f(x) - y^2 f(y) \le (x - y)^2

6. Divide both sides by xy x - y (assuming xy x \neq y ):
x2f(x)y2f(y)xyxy \frac{x^2 f(x) - y^2 f(y)}{x - y} \le x - y

7. As x x approaches y y , the left-hand side approaches the derivative of x2f(x) x^2 f(x) with respect to x x . Therefore, we consider the function g(x)=x2f(x) g(x) = x^2 f(x) .

8. The inequality suggests that g(x) g(x) is differentiable and:
g(x)=limyxg(x)g(y)xy0 g'(x) = \lim_{y \to x} \frac{g(x) - g(y)}{x - y} \le 0

9. Since g(x)=x2f(x) g(x) = x^2 f(x) , we differentiate g(x) g(x) :
g(x)=2xf(x)+x2f(x) g'(x) = 2x f(x) + x^2 f'(x)

10. For the inequality to hold, g(x) g'(x) must be zero:
2xf(x)+x2f(x)=0 2x f(x) + x^2 f'(x) = 0

11. Solving this differential equation:
x2f(x)=2xf(x) x^2 f'(x) = -2x f(x)
f(x)=2xf(x) f'(x) = -\frac{2}{x} f(x)

12. This is a separable differential equation. Separate the variables and integrate:
f(x)f(x)=2x \frac{f'(x)}{f(x)} = -\frac{2}{x}
f(x)f(x)dx=2xdx \int \frac{f'(x)}{f(x)} \, dx = \int -\frac{2}{x} \, dx
lnf(x)=2lnx+C \ln |f(x)| = -2 \ln |x| + C
lnf(x)=ln(Cx2) \ln |f(x)| = \ln \left( \frac{C}{x^2} \right)
f(x)=Cx2 f(x) = \frac{C}{x^2}

13. Since f(x) f(x) maps R+ \mathbb{R}^+ to R+ \mathbb{R}^+ , C C must be a positive constant.

Conclusion:
The only function f f that satisfies the given inequality for all x,yR+ x, y \in \mathbb{R}^+ is:
f(x)=Cx2 f(x) = \frac{C}{x^2}
where C C is a positive constant.

The final answer is f(x)=Cx2 \boxed{ f(x) = \frac{C}{x^2} } where C C is a positive constant.

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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.