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Algebra Difficulty 7.8 National olympiad, round 2 Find the answer

Find all functions f ⁣:RRf \colon \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} that satisfy the inequality
f(y)(zyzxf(x)+yxzxf(z))f(x+z2)f(x)+f(z)2 f(y) - \left(\frac{z-y}{z-x} f(x) + \frac{y-x}{z-x}f(z)\right) \leq f\left(\frac{x+z}{2}\right) - \frac{f(x)+f(z)}{2}
for all real numbers x<y<zx < y < z.

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

Solution

To find all functions f ⁣:RR f \colon \mathbb{R} \to \mathbb{R} that satisfy the inequality
f(y)(zyzxf(x)+yxzxf(z))f(x+z2)f(x)+f(z)2 f(y) - \left(\frac{z-y}{z-x} f(x) + \frac{y-x}{z-x} f(z)\right) \leq f\left(\frac{x+z}{2}\right) - \frac{f(x)+f(z)}{2}
for all real numbers x<y<z x < y < z , we need to analyze the given condition.

First, observe that for linear functions f(x)=ax+b f(x) = ax + b , the inequality holds with equality. This suggests that linear functions are solutions.

Next, consider quadratic functions of the form f(x)=ax2+bx+c f(x) = ax^2 + bx + c . For these functions, the left-hand side of the inequality represents the concavity condition of the quadratic function, which is always non-positive for downward-facing parabolas (i.e., a0 a \leq 0 ).

To confirm, we rearrange the given inequality:
f(z)f(x)zxf(y)f(x+z2)yx+z2f(x+z2)f(x)+f(z)2yx+z2. \frac{f(z)-f(x)}{z-x} - \frac{f(y)-f\left(\frac{x+z}{2}\right)}{y-\frac{x+z}{2}} \leq \frac{f\left(\frac{x+z}{2}\right) - \frac{f(x)+f(z)}{2}}{y-\frac{x+z}{2}}.
This form indicates that the function f f must be concave and continuous, ensuring that the second derivative f(x)0 f''(x) \leq 0 .

Thus, the functions that satisfy the inequality are linear functions and downward-facing parabolas. These can be expressed as:
f(x)=ax+borf(x)=ax2+bx+cwitha0. f(x) = ax + b \quad \text{or} \quad f(x) = ax^2 + bx + c \quad \text{with} \quad a \leq 0.

The answer is: \boxed{\text{linear functions and downward-facing parabolas}}.

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