Let P(x,y) be the assertion f(x+yf(x2))=f(x)+xf(xy). P(1,0) yields f(0)=0. If there exists x0=0 satisfying f(x02)=0, then considering P(x0,y), we get f(x0y)=0 for all y∈R. In this case, since x0=0, we can write any real number c in the form x0y for some y and hence we conclude that f(c)=0. It is clear that the zero function satisfies the given equation. Now assume that f(x2)=0 for all x=0.
By P(1,y) we have
f(1+yf(1))=f(1)+f(y)
If f(1)=1, there exists a real number y satisfying 1+yf(1)=y which means that f(1)=0 which is a contradiction since f(x2)=0 for all x=0. Therefore we get f(1)=1. Considering P(x,−x/f(x2)) for x=0, we obtain that
f(x)=−xf(−f(x2)x2)∀x∈R\{0}.
Replacing x by −x in (1), we obtain f(x)=−f(−x) for all x=0. Since f(0)=0, we have f(x)=−f(−x) for all x∈R. Since f is odd, P(x,−y) implies
f(x−yf(x2))=f(x)−xf(xy)
and hence by adding P(x,y) and P(x,−y), we get
f(x+yf(x2))+f(x−yf(x2))=2f(x)∀x,y∈R
Putting y=x/f(x2) for x=0 we get
f(2x)=2f(x)∀x∈R
and hence we have
f(x+yf(x2))+f(x−yf(x2))=f(2x)∀x,y∈R
It is clear that for any two real numbers u and v with u=−v, we can choose
x=2u+v and y=2f(2u+v)2)v−u
yielding
f(u)+f(v)=f(u+v)
Since f is odd, (2) is also true for u=−v and hence we obtain that
f(x)+f(y)=f(x+y)∀x,y∈R.
Therefore, P(x,y) implies
f(yf(x2))=xf(xy)∀x,y∈R
Hence we have
f(f(x2))=xf(x)∀x∈R
and
f(xf(x2))=xf(x2)∀x∈R
Using (2) and (3), we get
xf(x)+yf(y)+xf(y)+yf(x)=(x+y)(f(x)+f(y))=f(f((x+y)2))=f(f(x2+2xy+y2))=f(f(x2)+f(y2)+f(2xy))=f(f(x2))+f(f(y2))+f(f(2xy))=xf(x)+y(f(y))+f(f(2xy))=xf(x)+y(f(y))+2f(f(xy))
and hence
2f(f(xy))=xf(y)+yf(x)∀x,y∈R.
Using (5), we have
2f(f(x))=x+f(x)∀x∈R.
Using (3) and (6), we obtain that
2xf(x)=2f(f(x2))=x2+f(x2)∀x∈R.
Putting y=f(x2) in (5) yields
2f(f(xf(x2)))=xf(f(x2))+f(x2)f(x)∀x∈R
Using (4), we get f(f(xf(x2)))=xf(x2) and by (3) and (8) we have
2xf(x2)=2f(f(xf(x2)))=xf(f(x2))+f(x2)f(x)=x2f(x)+f(x2)f(x)∀x∈R
Now using (7), write f(x2)=2xf(x)−x2 in (9) to obtain that
2x(2xf(x)−x2)=x2f(x)+(2xf(x)−x2)f(x)
which is equivalent to
2x(x−f(x))2=0∀x∈R
This shows that f(x)=x∀x∈R which satisfies the original equation. Therefore all solutions are f(x)=0∀x∈R and f(x)=x∀x∈R.